Rebuild of Third Genesis
by shanejayell
Summary: Third Impact has come and gone. Humanity has survived the angels and instrumentality, but can they face what's to come?
1. Chapter 1

Rebuild of Third Genesis

One

Instrumentality came to the Earth as chaos rippled outward, bells ringing and alarms wailing. The Geofront of Tokyo-3 was cracked open like a egg by a Near Nuclear weapon, or N2 device. Armed forces were mobilized, NERV itself was targeted both by military forces and the mass production Evangelions were deployed. It was madness and chaos, then the EVENT happened.

Instrumentality wasn't global, however it looked at the time. The 'tang effect' as one scientist sarcastically called it was localized around NERV bases, though there were random people around the world hit too. Anyone with a weak sense of self, or some degree of unknown susceptibility reverted to a LCL state, leaving behind empty clothes to flow into one of many 'lakes' around the world.

The skies went red as priests babbled about the rapture. Madmen ran in the streets screaming that the apocalypse had come, one simply put off from the near miss of Second Impact. Strange flying figures were seen, glowing patterns danced across the sky, and the world held it's breath as they awaited some kind of final judgment.

Only... it didn't happen.

Somewhere in the strange group mind of Instrumentality, a choice was made for humanity. The people caught up in the merge looked godhood and perfection in the eye, and turned away. The lights in the sky faded, the hallucination of a giant woman (assuming it was a hallucination) crumbled in on itself and collapsed, and people began emerging from the pools of LCL around the world.

Of course, there were consequences.

In the chaos of the attack on Tokyo-3, someone dumped computer files into the world internet. The secret plans and plots of the cabal known as SEELE were released to the world, along with proof of their crimes. For nearly a half century they had manipulated mankind, and now all their dirty deeds were exposed to the world.

In the days following the release, many were killed and others retreated from the public into fortress like homes. Keel Lorenz, the head of SEELE, was ironically killed by instrumentality itself. His flesh and blood body was reverted to LCL, leaving behind the cybernetics that kept him alive. When he reverted to flesh and blood afterward with many missing parts... it was messy.

Emergency teams rushed to NERV facilities around the world to help the survivors and to try to find out what happened, the teams all finding similar chaos. Lakes of LCL at each site shimmered and rolled as they spat out humans determined to be individuals, while others chose to remain in the eternal group mind.

Only hours after the madness ended around Tokyo-3 emergency response teams found a deserted city, mangled, shredded mass production Evangelions and a strange, unearthly lake of LCL. At the edge of the newborn lake two teenagers had washed up, both at far extremes of health. The boy was unharmed but physically unresponsive, staring up at the sky blankly, while the girl was in a torn plugsuit and covered with healed over wounds.

"Let me go!" Asuka Soryu Langley roared as she punched the medical technician, sending him staggering backwards. A knee to the nuts sent a young man sprawling back, then with a bestial yell she charged the rest of them, eyes blazing.

Doctor Suema Kazuko dodged, the thirty something woman moving with surprising agility as she side-stepped the attack then karate chopped her across the neck, catching her as she slumped. "There," the black haired woman said as she gently laid the girl down.

"How did you...?" Saki blinked in astonishment.

"A friend of mine does martial arts," Suema said as she looked the girl over. She carefully pried the one eye open and flashed a light into it, frowning thoughtfully. "No automatic responses," she noted, frowning. She waved over the interns, "Get them to the medical tents, we need to check her over once she's conscious."

A alarmed cry drew their attention to the lake as a figure stumbled out of the ooze, bare-assed naked as he collapsed to the ground. The brown haired young man shuddered and moaned as he lay on the ground, medical staff rushing over to help him.

"Sir, don't move," Sakura Yamagishi said, the light brown haired nurse helping him roll onto his back, faintly shocked at the look of wide eyed horror in his gaze.

"Shigeru Aoba," he mumbled, "NERV serial number..."

"He's NERV?" Suema murmured, wondering what could have happened to inspire such terror in him. Putting a hand on his shoulder she gently asked him, "What happened here?"

Aoba looked at her blankly a moment, then quietly murmured, "WE were attacked... military forces invaded... guns firing, no control, the center cannot hold."

"And then?" Sakura pressed.

"Rei," Aoba's mouth twisted in a rictus grin as he began to repeat, "Rei. Rei. REI! REI! REII!" Aoba began to thrash wildly, jerking and twisting as the staff scrambled to hold him down.

"Someone tranquilize him!" Suema yelped, pinning him down with her body as a nurse scrambled with a needle.

"Oh hell, here come more of them," Sakura sighed as more people began to emerge from the lake of mysterious goo.

No one, thankfully, was as traumatized as Aoba, in fact the emerging people had wildly different reactions. Misato Katsuragi seemed the most unaffected by the experience, borrowing some clothes and swiftly helping the teams taking care of the emerging people. Others were shell shocked, stunned, and in quite a few cases almost possessed of a... religious experience.

The lake seemed to 'shrink' as people emerged one by one, dwindling away as people pulled themselves out. People described the experience within the lake like a 'group mind' or 'oversoul,' as if all barriers between people had broken down and they were united as one. Some people had adapted to it well, others... not so much.

More than a week after the 'event' Misato looked down at the now calmly sleeping Aoba, her expression gently sad. "He was... a very independent person," she mused, "is that why he reacted so badly to this?"

"We've gotten some descriptions of what happened with others," Suema noted quietly, "they all described friends and loved ones appearing."

"I saw Kaji," Misato admitted somewhat reluctantly as she asked, "so?"

"If I understood his description," Suema said as she put her hands in her labcoat, looking down at him compassionately, "he didn't have anyone close to him, so it seems a army of Rei copies just... overwhelmed him, somehow."

Misato visibly winced. "Do you think he'll recover?" she asked gently, looking down at the man she had served beside so long.

"The more time that passes, the calmer he gets," Suema answered her evasively, "other than that, I do not know."

The two women left the medical tent, standing out in the bulldozed area near what was the LCL lake. Parts of Tokyo-3 were being brought back up and running by engineering teams and rebuilding within the now blasted out Geofront was proceeding, helped in part by the ongoing mystery of what the hell happened. Researchers were combing through the Magi files and other sources, but figuring everything out was going to be a long term project.

"Do you think we'll ever fully understand what happened?" Misato guessed as they looked out over the wreckage.

"I don't know," Suema admitted, frowning. "I've skimmed the SEELE files, this mess goes back years, Miss Katsuragi."

"Misato," she corrected.

"Misato," Suema smiled slightly, nodding. Seriously she continued, "It looks like SEELE had their own ideas for Instrumentality, as did Gendo Ikari."

"And for all we know, Yui too," Misato added wryly. She shook her head, "I suppose it doesn't matter who plotted what, at this point. We still have the consequences to deal with."

What Misato was referring to was the arrival of military forces attempting to 'take charge' of the situation. Misato had quite thoroughly cowed them by sheer force of personality, but they were still trying to run things. They had taken one of the returnees into custody based on recovered files from the Magi, charging Ritsuko Akagi with murder.

"Have you decided how you're going to handle this?" Suema asked curiously.

"I'm going over their heads," Misato answered, smiling grimly.

Suema smiled wryly, "Does this relate to why you've been using a secure line to contact the United Nations?"

Misato just smirked.

As they talked Sakura came over, the nurse carrying a clipboard. "I got the list of returnees you wanted, Major," she said, handing over the paperwork then excusing herself.

Watching her at work Suema was struck by how powerful the force of personality Misato had. Whatever part of the experience that had broken poor Aoba seemed to have strengthened Misato, giving her a depth she apparently hadn't had before. She seemed to instantly know what to say and how to say it, but without the edge of being a obvious manipulator. It was fascinating, and Suema wished she could remain to observe more closely.

"I'm surprised how many people and families want to stay for the rebuild," Misato noted as she read through the list. She frowned occasionally too, then looked over at Suema, "Does anyone know why some injuries were healed and some not?"

"Mass, I think," Suema offered thoughtfully. "You and some others went into the LCL mostly intact, while others did not," she added, "though it's all a theory at this point."

"That explains Toji," Misato sighed. She looked over at Suema thoughtfully, "Have you decided about my offer?"

"It's tempting," Suema admitted as she looked out over the ruins, the intact buildings being lowered from the wrecked roof of the Geofront to the ground, the NERV pyramid now at the center of a reforming city.

"Either way, thank you for your help," Misato shook her hand firmly as she added, "your teams have done marvels." Wryly she added, "Unlike those quacks at the hospital."

"Asuka?" Suema guessed, having heard of the difficulties the extremely traumatized girl was having. She wasn't sleeping, and the doctors attempts to put her out with needles had not gone well. Asuka had busted up a ward and was not in a private room, while they tried to figure out how to best treat her.

Shinji Ikari was worse off, laying in a hospital room unresponsive. It didn't resemble a traditional coma, but he wasn't sleeping either. If it wasn't for the minimal brain activity the doctors would think he was brain dead...

The walked along the LCL lake a moment, Suema considering what had gone on, as well as the further challenges this strange city might bring. "If I stay on," she asked, "can we get some psychiatric staff in here, too? After everything that's happened, I think your staff needs it."

"Agreed," Misato said promptly. "I advocated for them years ago, but the commander said no."

Suema turned to her with a smile, nodding once. "I'll need to take care of things with my practice," she cautioned as she extended a hand, "but I'll be back as soon as I can."

"Good," Misato shook it firmly, "welcome aboard."

To be continued...

Notes: I replaced Ami Mizuno with Suema, for various reasons. This rewrite will be less obviously a crossover than the earlier version, and I wanted a medical doctor on staff, along with other medical personnel. I'm also tossing out my original explanation 'it was all a dream/hallucination' since it didn't really cover everything from Eva.


	2. Chapter 2

Rebuild of Third Genesis

Two

Doctor Ritsuko Akagi, former head of Project E, looked straight ahead, trying not to look up at those who were going to be passing judgment on her for her actions. The trial hadn't taken long, with her ignoring her advocate and pleading guilty.

After the limited Instrumentality the inhabitants of Tokyo-3 had experienced, Ritsuko had been struck by how guilty she felt for all the things she had done. Manipulating Shinji and Asuka, sabotaging Jet Alone, and tricking Toji Suzuhara into the Evangelion all weighed heavily on her, now. She couldn't undo what she had done, so all that was left was taking responsibility for her actions.

The head of the tribunal cleared his throat, the steely gray haired man studying her intently as he stared down from the borrowed City Council seats. The City Hall of Tokyo three had mostly come out of the chaos intact, and the army had borrowed the room for the trial. Finally he said grimly, "Ritsuko Akagi, you have chosen to plead guilty to the charge of attempted murder of Gendo Ikari."

There was a meaningful pause after he finished, and Ritsuko realized that they expected her to say something in reply. Maybe they expected some last minute pleading for leniency, or something? "Yes, sir," the blonde haired woman answered him simply. She really didn't think there was much else left for her to say.

Several men and women on the five person board clearly expected her to say more, however. They looked down at her with expressions ranging from a bit of awe at her guts to complete and utter disbelief that she was surrendering her fate so calmly to their hands. The head of the tribunal pushed his glasses up on his face uncomfortably before bending to carefully review his notes.

"Normally," the older man said reluctantly, "you would expect to face a punishment of life imprisonment for this charge, and in a way you will."

Ritsuko looked a bit more attentive upon hearing that, sensing that something unexpected might just be in the offing. 'Maybe there's some new, creative execution they want to test on me?' she thought to herself whimsically, struggling to keep a smile from her face.

He took his glasses off, and it was obvious he didn't much like what he was going to have to say, "Ritsuko Akagi, you are remanded to the custody of the new commander of NERV, to be held there under that individual's supervision as an intellectual asset." He looked decidedly grumpy as he added, "The commander will set the limits to your movement and conditions of your service."

'What the.." Ritsuko thought in surprise as she was quickly hustled out of the court room. Not long after she found herself waiting out by the front of the building with an military police officer, her hands cuffed behind her back. "What is going on?" she asked the officer, feeling just a bit indignant she hadn't been shot, r something.

"Uhm, I think...," the young man started before the older model jeep barreled around the corner, nearly clipping the terrified officer and skidded to a stop.

Misato Katsuragi waved cheerfully, the black haired woman sitting in the driver's seat, "Sorry to keep you waiting."

"Misato," Ritsuko blinked.

"Hey," Misato looked at the officer over her sunglasses as she asked, "what's she doing in cuffs? Get them off her."

"Yes, ma'am," the officer saluted before quickly un-cuffing Ritsuko, the young man being careful not to hurt her.

"I'll take it from here," Misato gave the man an airy wave. She looked over at Ritsuko and simply said, "Get in."

A few minutes later the battered jeep was burning rubber across the blacktop, exactly where Ritsuko didn't know. She took in the cracked open Geofront and NERV headquarters, the fallen pieces of the city scattered around it. She looked over at Misato and asked tentatively, "Are you taking me to see the new commander of NERV?"

"You're looking at her," Misato grinned.

"What?" Ritsuko blurted out in surprise.

"I didn't want the job," Misato smiled at her wryly, "but the United Nations wanted to clear out everyone who was even remotely involved with Gendo's dirty dealings."

"Which doesn't leave much of the higher ups," Ritsuko admitted, thinking of herself and Kozo wryly. She looked over at Misato's collar, "You're still a major?"

"For now," Misato shrugged. Metallic towers soon rose in the distance, battle scarred but still mostly intact, then drove up to the now exposed but mostly whole pyramid.

"I guess we still have a base," Ritsuko admitted as they came to a stop, a young soldier standing beside a entrance where the JSSDF had blown open a hatch weeks ago.

"For now," Misato agreed as they both got out.

Ritsuko followed Misato out watching her wince slightly as she moved a bit too quickly. 'She was shot, too,' Ritsuko remembered. "You all right?" she asked gently.

"I'll live," Misato shrugged, leading her inside the familiar facility of NERV.

They entered an elevator, rose up a few levels, then walked down a hallway until they reached an office. THE office, the office of Gendo Ikari, Supreme Commander of NERV. Unlike in the past the room was brightly lit, with the symbols on the floor obscured by dust and fallen debris as light shone in through open windows. Around the desk had been cleared, and surprisingly someone had dragged in a couch nearby the normally forbidding desk.

"My humble abode," Misato shrugged as she waved Ritsuko in ahead of her.

"What's been going on?" Ritsuko asked as she decided it would be best to sit on the couch. "I've heard the most outlandish things, even being in the hospital and stockade," she added.

"I'm still figuring things out myself," Misato sighed as she sat down at the other end of the couch. "Has anyone told you about how limited Instrumentality ended up being? The most places hit were NERV bases and SEELE locations, pretty much."

Ritsuko was so used to holding back information, to lying to Misato that she nearly did it again, but stopped herself firmly. "According to Yui's notes," she told her cautiously, "she expected a cascade effect to occur."

"Cascade effect?" Misato echoed, though her eyes narrowed thoughtfully.

"What was expected to happen," Ritsuko took on a slightly lecturing tone, "was that the initial transformations around NERV bases would in turn trigger other people, who would in turn trigger others, and so on and so forth."

"Which didn't happen," Misato noted, "any idea why?"

Ritsuko smiled slightly, "People's sense of self was stronger than Yui, SEELE or Gendo thought." She leaned back as she mused, "It's kind of nice to see the great Yui Ikari be wrong."

"That it is," Misato agreed. There was a moment of silence then she shook her head, "Damn, I haven't even asked you if you want to come back!"

"I thought I was under court order?" Ritsuko asked mildly.

Misato waved her hand, "Screw that. If you don't want to, I won't force you." She smiled, "I need someone with your skills, but I can dig around and find someone..." 

Privately Ritsuko knew that was bullshit, there literally was no one on earth more qualified for this, but it felt good having Misato offer to let her go. "No, I want to help," she told her, "and not just because I was ordered to." She hesitated as she thought about what to say.

"You have things you want to make up for?" Misato guessed. As Ritsuko looked at her in surprise Misato shrugged, "Me too."

"You didn't do anything...," Ritsuko started to protest.

"Maybe, but I was willfully blind, Rits. I didn't ask questions and played the good soldier," Misato said, frowning.

Ritsuko decided a quick subject change was in order. "How much of the facility survived the N2 bombing and the invasion?" she asked.

"We haven't got a complete survey done, we need to rehire the staff," Misato admitted, "add it to all the other problems we have to deal with."

Ritsuko looked at Misato warily, "What problems?"

"Well, for one thing NERV, which is basically the two of us, a few other officers plus what's left of the old support teams, has been asked to prepare plans to protect the Earth in case of another alien attach," Misato said softly, dryly adding that, "I sort of talked the Security Council into refunding

NERV as a defense organization for Extra Terrestrials."

"You're kidding," Ritsuko said weakly.

"Nope," Misato sighed, "and that's not our biggest potential problem."

"And that is?" Ritsuko asked faintly.

"Do you remember how Gendo rammed through the resolution founding NERV in the United Nations?" Misato asked her. Ritsuko nodded, so Misato continued, "It seems that he provided the basic tech for creating EVAs in exchange for the votes he needed. So now we have several unauthorized EVAs running around."

Ritsuko swore softly, her thoughts racing With incomplete data there was no telling what bio-mechanical monstrosities that could be born...

"My thoughts exactly," Misato nodded.

Ritsuko sat forward, reaching up and rubbing at her eyes tiredly. "So what assets do we have to work with?" she asked, trying to drive back tiredness as she considered the situation.

"EVA 01 is still missing in action and EVA 00 and 02 are under repair right now, though you're help on that would be greatly appreciated," Misato smiled wryly.

"I take it things are a bit disorganized?" Ritsuko asked mildly.

"Oh, yeah," Misato nodded grimly. "Asuka is recovering in hospital, though it's starting to look like she may loose the function in her one eye."

"I thought the eye was healing nicely?" Ritsuko frowned.

"It should have," Misato sighed before adding, "The doctors think it's in part due to the feedback from her EVA being dismembered."

Ritsuko winced, having seen footage of the mass production Evangelions tearing Unit-02 apart.. "What about Shinji?" she asked.

"He's in a coma," Misato said softly, her eyes flickering with a bit of guilt, "Whatever he experienced in the end was too much for him to handle, at least that's what the psychiatrists seem to think. There's nothing physically wrong with him, he just won't wake up."

"So we're down to one pilot," Ritsuko frowned, "assuming we can get Asuka functional and that she'd be willing to pilot again."

"Not exactly," Misato said. Ritsuko looked up at her curiously and she said, "We were searching a series of unused storage rooms and found a Rei Ayanami."

To Be Continued...

Notes: Edited & added dialog, as well as tossing out elements inconsistent with chapter one. I'm tossing in some lingering guilt on both women's parts, which I think makes sense. Misato may be a lush but she was responsible for the kids & should have known what was going on at NERV. Ritsuko has even more to be guilty about, since she willingly helped Gendo.


	3. Chapter 3

Rebuild of Third Genesis

Three

In the early morning the city of Yokohama was quiet, and the apartment building was only beginning to stir. It was the third largest city in Japan, behind Tokyo-2 and Tokyo-3, and was the nearest major city to Tokyo-3. In the aftermath of third impact many people had ended up there, away from NERV yet near enough to return, if practical.

In one apartment the phone rang shrilly once, then it rang once again. A hand came out from under the covers of the bed and reached out for it blindly, shifting around and feeling for the source of the annoying sound. A empty glass on the night stand fell to the floor, a book soon joined it but finally, the receiver was grabbed and pulled sluggishly under the covers.

"Yes?" the sleepy woman's voice asked. There was a moment's pause, then she mumbled tiredly, "Yes, this is Maya Ibiki. Yes, this is she."

There was a extended period of silence, and a sleepy mind slowly began to work. Suddenly Maya sat right up in her bed, her brown eyes wide and her short black hair sticking up wildly as the sheets puddled around her waist, revealing she slept in a battered old t-shirt..

"Misato?" Maya blurted out into the receiver.

Misato's clearly amused voice came through loud and clear as she noted, "I'm glad to hear that you're awake at last."

"How can I help you?" Maya squeaked nervously.

Misato quietly answered, "I hope you'll agree to come back to work. NERV has been fully reactivated, and we could use your help."

"I resigned," Maya reminded her, "after everything that happened with sempai." She thought of Ritsuko and felt a burst of pain that she quickly tried to bury. After everything that had happened and all she had done to help save the world, Ritsuko was still put on trial for shooting Gendo. And they didn't even have his body, or any idea what happened to him!

"I know," Misato admitted. She paused for a few seconds, and Maya wondered what was happening on the other end of the line. "I was just thinking that Ritsuko could really use your help," Misato said with a false casualness.

"She's there?" Maya gasped softly.

"I couldn't get the charges against her dismissed," and Misato sounded quite satisfied with herself as she said, "but for her punishment I was able to get her assigned as a scientific resource here at NERV." There was a beat of silence, "Things are pretty disorganized here right now. So, would you be interested in rejoining NERV?"

Maya didn't even have to think about it as she answered, "Yes, I'll be there. When do you need me back?"

"As soon as possible," a very relieved sounding Misato answered. "Ritsuko will be getting here at Tokyo-3 tomorrow, can you make it here by then?" she asked.

"I'll be there," Maya answered her firmly. She found out that the NERV pyramid would continue to be their base and was offered an new apartment in the city before she gently lay the phone back in to its cradle.

Maya looked around her apartment, already thinking of the details she needed to attend to. First, she called her landlord, apologetically explaining that she had to move out immediately. Then, she started packing her clothes. Most of her items she just bundled up as small as she could and packed into the cases, then she reached the bottom drawer of her dresser. She pulled it open and almost reverently pulled out the plastic wrapped bundle that lay there.

It unfolded easily, her NERV uniform. Maya hadn't been sure why she had saved it so carefully when she had resigned, but now she knew. She let herself think the thoughts that she had been fighting back since Misato called, 'I get to see Ritsuko again!'

Early the next morning, and Maya was ready to go. She called up a few friends she had made in town, put the items she couldn't pack up into storage, and prepared to leave. She had come to Yokohama because she wanted to get away from Tokyo-2 and it's sister city Tokyo-3, and everything that they represented to her. She wanted a normal life, or as normal as she could get.

The train was easy to catch, the first taking her from Yokohama to the capital of Tokyo-2. It was a popular trip, people from the city wanting to see the 'city of the future' that was so nearby. Maya looked out at the buildings running by, and let herself think.

Maya remembered some of what happened in the end, at least she thought she did. The army had invaded NERV, and she had crouched down behind a control panel, waiting for rescue. Or if she was honest with herself, waiting to die. Then... it happened.

The gunfire, the weapons discharges, they all slowed, then finally stopped. She flowed through the ceiling at her, smiling warmly. Ritsuko's ghost.

'But she's alive, isn't she?' a frowning Maya thought to herself. 'So what was it that I saw?' she wondered. The memories got awfully blurry after that, and she eventually found herself back where she started from, crouched down in the NERV control center as someone announced over the communication system that the fighting was all over.

The next few days were pure chaos. Misato in the hospital, watching over the survivors and trying to manage the insanity. Ritsuko being held in a military infirmary, pending her trial for the attempted murder of Gendo Ikari. Rei gone, Shinji in a coma, all the EVA's in ruins or had hit her limit, and tendered her resignation to her immediate superior. She left NERV, intending never to return.

'So much for that idea,' Maya thought to herself wryly.

Arriving at Tokyo-2, Maya made a little detour before boarding her next train. She changed clothes in the ladies bathroom, pulling on that familiar, comfortable uniform once again. She felt curious glances as she went to the military train, curiosity and a bit of respect. When she showed her NERV pass to the officer at the train, he threw her a instant salute.

'What on Earth is going on?' Maya wondered.

She settled into a seat beside another young woman, a dark haired woman who looked at her wide eyed. "Are you really a NERV officer?" she gushed.

Maya blinked in surprise, but since it wasn't classified at all she answered, "Well, yes..."

The woman actually squealed with happiness. "Where you there for the battle for NERV headquarters?" she asked eagerly.

"Yes," Maya answered her cautiously.

"What was it like?" the girl looked at her breathlessly.

"Chaotic," Maya blinked. "Who are you?" she asked quietly.

"Oh," the girl blushed, "my name is Nako." Maya looked at the girl push her large, round glasses up higher on her nose and dearly hoped that this trip was going to be much faster than she thought it usually was.

Maya left the train, feeling a bit guilty that her new friend had to continue onward. She looked around to get her bearings, and then made her way through the high tech city that was rising from the ashes. The Geofront was cracked open, the buildings being lowered to the floor and set up in the new lower level. Looming over everything was the NERV pyramid, which seemed to draw Maya towards it.

Maya went up the elevator then down the hall, slowing as she neared the Commander's office. From here Gendo Ikari had run NERV, and to be honest he had frightened Maya quite a bit. Cold, calculating and cruel at times he had been a cancer at the heart of NERV, in her opinion. And his relationship with Ritsuko had sickened her when Maya found out.

Shaking off memories Maya walked to the door, blinking as she was it was slightly open and she could hear a bit of the conversation inside.

"... found a Rei Ayanami," Misato finished.

There was a short pause, and Maya heard Ritsuko-senpai say, "A Rei Ayanami? You mean another clone?"

Maya drew her hand back, knocking loudly on the doorway before she could hear anything else she probably shouldn't.

"Come in," Misato called out.

Maya pushed the door open and moved to stand in front of Misato and managed a pretty good salute as she said, "Maya Ibiki, reporting for duty, sir." She paused, "Or ma'am, whichever you'd prefer." Ritsuko sat up almost as soon as she saw her, and Maya had to fight a smile.

"Just Misato," the dark haired woman smiled wryly, "I'm not too into the military style."

"Maya," she said and Ritsuko smiled, "it's good to see you." The blonde pushed her hair back nervously, revealing how pale she was.

'I forgot, it hasn't been that long since she got out of the hospital,' Maya thought. Before she could stop herself she asked, "Have you been getting enough rest, sempai?"

Ritsuko blushed, looking down as she muttered, "Don't start being a mother hen to me, now."

Misato shifted on the couch, wincing a bit as she grabbed her ribs. "I bet we could both use some of that, actually," she admitted.

Maya smiled at Misato, silently mouthing 'Thank you.'

Misato smiled back, "Actually, Maya, you should take the rest of the day off, get settled in. You can report for work here tomorrow morning."

"Thank you," Maya smiled shyly, "I got my bags shipped back to Tokyo-3, but I wasn't sure where to send them."

Misato didn't look terribly happy as she admitted, "We have a housing block and are usaing it for NERV staff." She looked at Ritsuko and smiled slightly, "Your apartment got thrashed, so you're moving there too."

"But..." Ritsuko started.

"In fact, why don't you go together?" Misato smiled impishly before adding, "It'll give the two of you a chance to catch up with each other, too."

Maya did her best not to smile as she answered gravely, "That's a very good idea, ma'am." She looked at Ritsuko as she shyly offered, "If there's anything open we can shop to replace some of the things you lost."

"You don't need to...," Ritsuko said, looking away.

Maya reached out and took one of Ritsuko's hands as she answered her firmly, "I know, I want to help you."

"She's right," Misato said as she got up, shooing both women out of the office, "now get going. I don't want to see either of you until tomorrow."

To Be Continued...

Notes: Moved the city Maya took off to to Yokohama. It's the nearest large city to where Tokyo-3 is, tho I don't know if it actually survived second impact. Also added some dialog & description.


	4. Chapter 4

Rebuild of Third Genesis

Four

A visibly tired Misato Kisaragi used her keycard to open up the door to her new apartment and had to bend over quickly to stop the penguin from escaping down the hallway. "Hey, Pen-pen, I'm home," she murmured to him, pushing him inside with her foot.

Misato looked around her, shaking her head as she thought about how pristine the place had been when she first moved in weeks ago. Her apartment building had been blasted to rubble by the N2 mine, and for awhile she had been living in a tent. It had been a truly incredible task to lower the surviving buildings into the now cracked open Geofront and start making the city habitable. Of course, by now boxes were scattered about, take-out containers littered every available surface, and beer cans were scattered around artistically.

"Well, at least the place finally looks like home," she laughed to Pen-pen, who was looking up at her expectantly. She opened up a can of sardines for him first, then she started to decide on what she'd have for dinner herself as she watched the penguin scarf down the fish. Deciding take-out was too much trouble and would take too damn long she got a frozen dinner out and put it in the microwave, hitting the switches to warm it in a few minutes.

Sitting down at the kitchen table and waiting for the microwave to perform it's magic, Misato let herself begin to process everything that had happened that day. Looking back she decided Ritsuko's return was going to be a godsend to her. Having the clearly competent blonde haired scientist back to handle the technical end of things would take a incredible load off her own shoulders. Leaving Misato with just the military and politicians to deal with, something she was pretty good at.

'Not to mention Ritsuko doesn't take any garbage from me,' Misato thought. She grinned to herself impishly as she mused, 'And what's Ritsuko without her side-kick, Maya?"

Having Maya Ibiki around was almost as much of a relief to Misato as Ritsuko. The young lady had been in the control room throughout the entire Angels crisis, and had seen a lot of stuff go down. She had developed into a quite capable young woman, and once Misato got that promotion for her rammed through she'd be an even greater help.

Of course, that also highlighted her lack of command staff. Shigeru Aoba was still a basket case, and to be honest Misato didn't think he could come back to work for NERV. Whatever had happened to him in Third Impact had deeply traumatized him, so much that he got the shakes just looking at the NERV pyramid.

Makoto Hyuga had also come to Misato, tendering his resignation for personal reasons. He had emerged much calmer from the lake of LCL, but also with a new kind of determination. He acknowledged his long time crush on Misato, and admitted part of why he was leaving was coming to the realization she wouldn't love him.

'Did I use him?' Misato wondered sadly, then jerked as the microwave chimed.

Misato got up to collect her tray of food, taking a short detour by the fridge to collect a can of her favorite beer. "Ah, the drink of the gods," she sighed to herself happily, taking a long drink. She then dug into her meal vigorously, alternating mouthfuls of food with slurps of her beer. Finishing, she pushed the tray away with a soft sigh, then wondered if Maya and Ritsuko were sharing dinner somewhere.

'They're so cute together, too,' Misato thought, remembering how Maya had gently helped Ritsuko out of Misato's office earlier that day. 'Maya's got such a crush on Ritsuko, but she doesn't notice,' Misato thought, 'or she doesn't choose to notice.'

But thinking of Maya brought to mind another dark haired figure, one she wasn't sure she wanted to think too much about. Misato closed her eyes, knowing that the pain she felt had nothing to do with her wounds. 'Shinji,' she thought bleakly.

The boy had been a total wreck, when the army launched it's surprise attack on NERV. Shinji had faced horror after horror in his recent battles. He had been forced to brutally hurt a friend, compelled by an override of his EVA that had left him trapped in the very machine that was doing the killing, then fought Tabris, who had been in the body of his fellow pilot Kaworu Nagisa and killed him, too. In the midst of the fighting Misato had dragged him through NERV to his EVA, and in a move that was still giving her cold sweats of guilt when she thought about it, all but bribed him with her body to get him in to the EVA.

'I thought I was helping save his life,' Misato thought, remembering the serious gunshot wounds she had received in the battle, 'thought that I was protecting him.' It was only later on that she found out that things had gone totally bad and crazy outside, and that poor Shinji had been caught up right in the middle of it, right in the middle of Third Impact.

No one knew quite what happened out there to Shinji, in all honestly. Any satellite photos that were recovered of the events were confusing, to say the least. All that was really known was that he and Asuka had been found together unconscious, Rei Ayanami and the EVA 01 were both gone, and that Shinji wouldn't wake up.

When Shinji slept the first few days away, it was just assumed that exhaustion had taken it's toll, but once Asuka awoke up and he didn't, they began to worry. Physically, the doctors couldn't find anything wrong with him, and the psychologists could only guess that the built up stress had been too much for the boy.

'And then there's Asuka,' Misato thought to herself grimly. The mass production EVAs had destroyed the EVA 02, nearly totally dismembering it, leaving the girl badly traumatized and carrying physical wounds. 'And we get to go see her tomorrow, and try to talk her into climbing into an EVA once again,' she sighed.

"I wonder if I could just stay in bed all day tomorrow?" she asked Pen-pen, who decided to just ignore her.

Misato looked over at the fridge, strongly considering pulling out a few more cans of beer, enough to dull the pain of her body. 'And maybe my conscience?' she thought. With a shake of her head she bypassed the beer, heading for her bedroom and settled down for a fitful night's sleep.

The next morning Misato met Ritsuko and Maya outside of the NERV pyramid and just had to sigh. 'They're showing the same body language from yesterday,' she thought to herself irritably, 'I gave them a half day alone together, and nothing happened? Give me a break.'

"Is something wrong?" Ritsuko asked curiously.

"Never mind," Misato sighed, leading them over to the waiting jeep. "Maya, you get to drive," she ordered, deciding she needed some time to figure out how to approach Asuka.

"Sure," Maya smiled, climbing into the driver's seat. Before anyone else could take their seats she said, "Sempai, would you like to ride up front?"

'Way to go, Maya,' Misato had to smile as she climbed into the back seat, taking the decision out of Ritsuko's hands.

"Right," Ritsuko blinked, a bit of a flush to her cheeks. She looked back at Misato, "So where are we headed?"

"The new city hospital," Misato sighed softly. She looked at Maya, "You know where it is?"

Instead of answering her question directly, Maya started up the jeep. Taking the shortest, most efficient route through the streets of Tokyo-3 she had them there in only a few minutes. "You had to ask?" Maya smiled. As they were getting out she quietly added, "I memorized the new city maps earlier, just in case."

They showed their ID at the front desk, though it was interesting to note they were all recognized instantly. 'The last defenders of NERV,' Misato had heard someone talk about them and that last stand, and had nearly hit him. It hadn't been heroic, it was mad, chaotic and bloody, people who should have been on the same side trying to kill each other. But everyone who had been there had acquired a certain legend around them, and Misato wasn't above using it if needed.

"Asuka's upstairs," Misato said, leading them over to the elevators.

They walked in together, and Misato pressed the key for the top floor. Not having heard Misato's speech earlier Maya asked, "How is she?"

"Physically, she's recovering," Misato answered Maya quietly, deciding not to mention Asuka's mental condition. They reached their floor, striding down a long hallway to a office door, which Misato knocked on firmly.

After a moment the door was answered by a woman about their own age, her smile warm and kind. Suema Kazuko was working in the hospital for now, but Misato had her in mind for a new staff doctor position at NERV. Presuming she could talk the doctor into it...

"Suema Kazuko," Misato nodded, "I'd like you to meet Doctor Ritsuko Akagi and Maya Ibuki.

"It's nice to meet you," Suema shook then hands, her long black hair flowing down her back, Ritsuko and Maya echoing the sentiment.

"How's Asuka?" Misato asked briskly.

"Physically she's improving," Suema answered calmly, "though she's still in some pain and is shy about the scaring."

"Scaring?" Maya asked.

Misato nodded slightly, remembering how Asuka had looked the first time she saw her. "When the mass production Evangelions destroyed Unit-02, Asuka experienced horrible wounds," she said, "while reverting to LCL healed her, it left scars."

"She's using bandages to hide the scars," Suema added. She looked at Misato thoughtfully, "You want to check her out?"

"If we can," Misato answered.

"It might be a good idea," Suema conceded. The young doctor looked pissed, "The doctor on call a few nights ago ordered her strapped down when Asuka had a nightmare. As you can imagine Asuka didn't take it well."

"How much damage did she do?" Ritsuko had to ask.

"Beat up the doctor and three internists," Suema smiled wryly.

"Good for her," Misato grinned. A few moments later they were up the hall, this time knocking at a door with a glass window revealing a patient's room.

"Go away," A familiar voice cried out in reply.

"It's Misato," she called back in return.

There was a moment's silence, then Asuka said, "Come in."

It was an odd moment, looking at the bandaged woman standing by the window. White cloth wrapped her arms, running across her head, she looked almost eerily like Rei Ayanami had. But then she turned, her red hair becoming more visible, and the illusion was shattered.

"Good morning," Ritsuko put her hands in her lab coat pockets nervously. Maya hesitated behind her, not quite sure what to say.

Misato made sure to keep a bit of distance as she said, "Are you going to take another shot at me?" She reached up to her cheek, and a nearly faded bruise that was there. She had taken a hit not longer after they both emerged from the LCL and Asuka was suffering some kind of flashback

"Not this morning," Asuka smiled faintly, looking out at them through her right eye. The left was covered up by a simple bandage, concealing the sightless eye beneath it.

Misato met her gaze steadily, looking into her eye to try to read what she was feeling. Not an easy task, considering Asuka's anger and intensity. "Try not to pound on any of the doctors," she murmured, "they're just doing their jobs."

"If they try to tie me down to a bed again," and Asuka caressed her bandaged arms, "they'll just get what they deserve."

Misato, Ritsuko and Maya stood there awkwardly. Misato wanted to say something, to try to get started on what they had to do, but she couldn't seem to manage it. All she could do was think, 'Do I really want to put her through this again? Do I even have the right to ask her to pilot, after everything she's been through?'

"I'll pilot the EVA for you," Asuka said as she turned back towards the window.

There was an extended moment of dead silence before Misato finally managed to reboot her brain and ask, "What?"

There was an impish little smile on her face as Asuka looked back at the three of them, "I said, I'll pilot the EVA for you."

"Are you sure?" Ritsuko asked her quietly.

"It's what I do," Asuka murmured, "what I'm good at. I've heard about Shinji, so it's not like we have a lot of options, either."

"We can find another pilot if we have to," Misato offered quietly as she walked to Asuka's side, "I'm not going to let anyone force you into the pilot's seat."

Asuka looked up at her gratefully as Misato put her hand on the red head's shoulder. "It's not that I'm not scared," Asuka murmured, "but I'm sure that I can do this."

Misato nodded slightly, "All right." With a slight smile, "It's good to have our ace pilot back with us again."

Asuka looked around the sterile hospital room in clear distaste, "Now could I please get out of here?"

Ritsuko picked up Asuka's chart, "You're just under observation. I think we can get you out of here without too much trouble."

"I'll go get you some clothes," Maya offered.

"See if you can get me an eyepatch, too," Asuka called out after her. She turned back to Misato, already looking more self confident, "Where to next?"

Misato tried not to grin, "We're going to go see Rei Ayanami next."

There was a moment of dead silence, as Asuka looked at her in surprise. "What?" she finally managed to get out.

To be continued...

Notes: Wrote out Aoba and Makoto. To be honest I don't see any way Aoba would go back to working for NERV, after what he had been through. Makoto is a slightly different situation, in that he had LONG dreamed of dating Misato, and there was pretty much no chance it would happen. Third Impact and the LCL sea just showed it to him in crystal clear clarity.


	5. Chapter 5

Rebuild of Third Genesis

Five

'It's strange, how peaceful it looks,' the red haired woman thought to herself dreamily, looking out over the ruins of the Geofront. Even with the bustle of vehicles and the construction and salvage teams working, the light shining down from the broken Geofront shell looked oddly beautiful. Asuka heard the firm knock on the hospital door, disturbing her thoughts as she was looked out at Tokyo-3 and scowled in irritation.

Angrily Asuka called back at whoever it was, "Go away!"

"It's Misato," she heard the answer.

Asuka blew out a breath, for a second wishing she didn't have to see her again. Knowing that was unlikely she quietly said, "Come in."

They filed into the room together, Misato, Ritsuko and Maya, and Asuka was reminded of other times she had seen the three of them together like this. In crisis after crisis they had guided her and Shinji through the chaos, until things finally fell apart. Now it was all different, her arms wrapped in bandages as she looked out at them through only her right eye.

"Good morning," Ritsuko said as she put her hands in her white lab coat's pockets nervously, and Asuka had to fight back a smile. The older woman rarely showed nervousness like that, though Asuka decided that being shot and resurrected was a reasonable excuse to change. Standing behind her Maya hesitated, not quite sure what to say. 'They do look good together,' Asuka noted a bit sadly as she looked over at the blonde and dark haired officers.

Asuka noticed that Misato made sure to keep a bit of distance between the two of them as she asked, "Are you going to take another shot at me?" Misato reached up to her cheek, and touched a nearly faded bruise that was there.

"Not this morning," Asuka smiled back at her, remembering the moment vividly. She had been in the medical ward nearby the LCL lake when the flashback hit, a vivid rerun of the mass production evangelions tearing her apart. She had lashed out wildly, feeling her fist connect with something, only later to find out it was Misato's face..

Misato gave a little smile in return. "Try not to pound on any of the doctors," Misato murmured, "they're just doing their jobs."

Asuka bared her white teeth in what might pass as a smile, fighting back a sudden surge of anger at that comment. "If they try to tie me down to a bed again," she said dangerously, unconsciously rubbing at her still bandaged arms, "they'll just get what they deserve."

Asuka watched Misato, Ritsuko and Maya standing there awkwardly in the quiet hospital. They looked at each other, and for a moment she almost wanted to laugh. It was so obvious what the wanted to do, why they were here. Why not get on with it? Why not say what needed to be said?

"I'll pilot the Evangelion for you," Asuka finally decided to answer the unspoken question as she turned back towards the window and the view of the city.

There was an extended moment of dead silence right behind her. After a few seconds Misato finally managed, "What?"

Asuka actually could feel herself smiling again as she looked back at the three of them, rather enjoying their dumfounded looks. "I said, I'll pilot the EVA for you," she repeated patiently, as if for a not-too-bright child.

"Are you sure?" Ritsuko asked her quietly, the blond giving her a sympathetic look..

Asuka smiled back at the blonde scientist, remembering how manipulative the witch had been at times. Still, that was in the past, now. "It's what I do," she answered her frankly, "what I'm good at. I've heard about Shinji, so it's not like we have a lot of options, either."

"We can find another pilot if we have to," Asuka was almost surprised to hear Misato quietly offer as she walked over to her side. Her voice was almost caring as she continued, "I'm not going to let anyone force you into the pilot's seat."

Asuka looked up at her gratefully as she felt Misato put her hand her shoulder, squeezing gently. "It's not that I'm not scared," she murmured to Misato, feeling that knot of fear in her gut, "but I'm sure that I can do this."

She closed her eyes a moment, Asuka vividly remembering the Angel that messed with her mind, losing control of her Evangelion. Sulking and despairing, then her injuries, and then the final attack. Piloting Unit-02 again, finally sensing her mother's soul, the two of them destroying the mass production Evangelions, only for them to resurrect again...

Misato gently said, "All right." There was a little pause and she added, "It's good to have our ace pilot back with us again."

Asuka took a steadying breath as she looked around the sterile hospital room and couldn't hide her distaste, "Now could I please get out of here?"

Ritsuko picked up Asuka's chart and studied it before saying, "You're just being kept under observation. I think we can get you out of here without too much trouble."

"I'll go get you some clothes," Maya quickly offered.

Asuka called out after her, "See if you can get me an eye-patch, too." She turned back to Misato and already felt a bit more self confident as she asked her, "Where to next?"

Misato seemed to be trying not to grin as she answered her seriously, "Well, we're going to go see Rei Ayanami."

Asuka looked at her in surprise for a moment while she tried to take that in. "What?" she finally managed to ask, trying to figure out what she meant. Was there another clone out there? Or did Rei somehow survive, like she had?

Ritsuko gave Misato a scolding glance as she growled, "Would you please stop teasing us with her? You've been doing it for days."

"Sorry," but Misato didn't look very repentant. She pushed her hand through her dark hair, "It's easier to show you than try to explain."

Maya, a mistress of good timing, came in just then carrying a folded NERV uniform shirt and pants, the black eye-patch laying on top of the clothes. "I hope these are the right size," she smiled tentatively at Asuka, a pair of uniform shoes dangling from one hand.

"Thank you," Asuka smiled back at Maya as she took the pile of clothes. The three other women stood around for a moment, and Asuka gave them a pointed look, smiling. "Ahem," she cleared her throat meaningfully.

"Oh, right," Ritsuko blinked, and herded the other two out of the room to give Asuka some privacy to change.

Asuka smiled slightly, striping off the skimpy blue hospital gown first. She was so sick of how vulnerable the paper like garment made he feel, much less the draft it let in! The bandages she quickly unraveled into a messy pile at her feet, and she paused to trace those thin pale red lines left by the resurrection within the LCL with her finger tips.

The young woman smiled slightly as Asuka pulled the standard NERV uniform on, feeling a bit of relief that it wasn't a plug suit. She wasn't quite up to wearing one of those clingy, revealing outfits just yet. The eye patch was a bit awkward as she tried to get it settled over her left eye, but she managed it. Fresh socks and uniform shoes on, and she was ready to go.

"That's much better," Asuka looked at her reflection in the mirror with satisfaction, tugging the bottom on the shirt to make sure it was straight. She strode out into the hallway, "All right, let's go."

Misato gestured to Asuka to walk beside her as they strode down the hallway, Ritsuko and Maya following behind them. Misato gave her a tentative glance as they filed into the elevator, "Would you like your old room back?"

"What do you mean?" Asuka answered her quietly.

"I've got an empty room in my new place," Misato said quietly as she pressed a floor number, "if you want to take it."

"Yeah, I'd like that," Asuka smiled back. She paused to ask teasingly, "Are you as much of a slob as you used to be?"

"Pretty much," Misato answered as the elevator stopped, the doors sliding open.

"I was hoping being promoted would change that," Asuka noted, "guess not."

Ritsuko snicked softly from behind them, and Misato shot her a glare. This floor of the hospital was obviously devoted more to medical science, the walls unpainted. There were sounds ahead of them, growing louder as they walked on.

"So the Rei we're going to see is another clone?" Maya asked tentatively.

"To be honest, we're not sure," Misato admitted. She looked at Ritsuko, "That's one reason I wanted you back here, to examine her." They reached a set of large double doors, and she pushed one open before nodding to the others, "Go on in."

A group of scientists were clustered around a large metal tube, and once Misato cleared her throat loudly they shifted aside so that they could see what floated within. Asuka had been expecting to see the Rei Ayanami she had known, but the woman who floated there wasn't quite the same.

Some of the differences were quite obvious, the others more subtle. The hair was a much darker shade of blue, looking a bit more normal. Asuka blushed faintly, noticing the better developed body. Tearing herself away from that detail she saw the vibrant skin tone, the pink to her cheeks. Overall she looked healthy, a word Asuka wouldn't have ever used to describe the old Rei.

Pacing around the collumn Along with the other scientists was a black haired women, studying the controls with a particular intensity. She wasn't familiar to Asuka, though the woman was recognized by Misato almost immediately.

Misato frowned at her worriedly, "Cookie, how long have you been here?"

She shrugged casually, "I don't know. What time is it?" Misato told her, and her eyebrow went up, "Remarkable. All right, what day is it?"

"Did you just call her Cookie?" Asuka had to ask.

"Her name is Kuki Unebi," Maya explained with a wry smile, "she was named after her great-grandmother, I think."

"Go home, get some rest," Misato pushed Kuki bodily towards the doors. She tried to protest and she added, "I'll make it an order if I have to."

"Yes, ma'am," Kuki shuffled off with a sigh.

"What a odd woman," Asuka muttered to herself, wondering what sort of whack jobs Misato was hiring for NERV.

"She's fairly brilliant," Ritsuko answered absentmindedly, her gaze focused on the Rei clone. Quietly she asked Misato, "You said that she was found in a storage chamber. Are there any records of when she was placed there?"

"The room was sealed, apparently shortly after Tokyo-3 was constructed," Misato answered her quietly. "Other than that...," she shrugged.

"What does the scan data say?" Ritsuko asked, fully in her scientist mode.

"It's fully shielded," another scientist volunteered softly, "the scans couldn't get through."

"So the only way we may be able to find out anything about her," Asuka said softly as she looked at the floating girl, "is to open it up?"

"Looks like it," Misato agreed softly.

To be continued...

Notes: More minor edits. Took out Dr. Stingray, as he was intended to imply a connection between Bubblegum Crisis 2040 biotech and Evangelion. Kuki Unebi is a original character, but is strongly based off a character in the manga Kurogane Pukapuka Tai.


	6. Chapter 6

Rebuild of Third Genesis

Six

In the beginning, she dreamed.

Visions of other places, other people appeared and vanished in her mind's eye. Flickering fragments of another life, another existence. A older man and a baby sun, caring for them with all her heart. A child telling a woman she was old, then a sudden darkness. Standing on a platform with a sad young man, promising to protect him. Bits of lives she didn't understand, flickers of knowledge she couldn't put any context to.

She didn't know exactly what it was, that woke her up from her deep sleep. Something had disturbed her, some unidentified sound, or maybe a familiar presence nearby. Her eyes gradually opened up, first observing her surroundings, the tank full of clear liquid that she floated in, then looking outward to those who were gathered outside.

A tall, blonde haired woman dressed in a lab coat stood beside a shorter, boyish looking dark haired girl in gray military garb. Not too far away from them, a dark haired woman in a bright red jacket stood alone watching other two. Finally, a much younger woman looked over at the tank itself, standing out with her shocking mane of bright red hair. Her two eyes met the girl's one, and she saw the redhead's eye widen in surprise.

"She's awake," the redhead blurted out.

The blonde turned, looking first at the redhead then at her before trailing of in surprise, "Asuka, she can't be..."

'Asuka,' she thought, feeling some deep satisfaction rising within her, at being able to name the oddly familiar red haired girl at last. Another flash of memory, Asuka asking to be friends... 'Will she be my friend?' she wondered.

The dark haired older woman grabbed at the blonde's arm and asked, "Ritsuko, will she be all right in there?"

"She should be, Misato," Ritsuko looked at her thoughtfully, "it's the same LCL fluid we used in the entry plugs to protect the pilots."

It was strange, hearing those three names spoken aloud. She recognized them all, somehow, even though she knew that she had never seen them before today. She looked over at the smaller girl, trying to place her as well. There was a name on the tip of her tongue, but it slipped out of her mental grasp like water.

"Maya," Ritsuko turned to the shorter girl, "Go grab a uniform in her size."

"Right, Sempai," and Maya bolted.

"You aren't seriously considering letting her out of there," a frowning Misato said, sounding quite irritable. "We have no idea what Gendo intended for her to be used for..."

The girl in the tube was a little surprised to hear Asuka speak up for her angrily, "Well, we can't just leave her in there."

"She's right," Ritsuko said, sounding quite gentle. She put her hands in her pockets, "I've done some pretty questionable things over the years, Misato. I think leaving a conscious kid in one of those tubes would be one of them..."

She saw Misato looking over at her, and she met the dark haired woman's gaze calmly as she breathed the slightly chilly LCL. Misato was the first one to turn away, sighing as she admitted, "I guess you're right."

"All right, start pumping the fluid out," Ritsuko ordered the other scientists, "and then replace it with a standard oxygen blend."

She felt a sudden moment of panic, as her environment around her began to change, but she quelled it forcefully. She tasted the air, smelling the tang of medicine and ozone in it, the scent of a science lab at work. She breathed it in deeply, and it strangely felt like home.

In only a few moments she stood dry in the middle of the sealed tank. Ritsuko herself then stepped forward, grasping the catches set on the side of the tank. "Opening," she unsnapped them loudly one at a time, "now."

The blue haired girl stepped carefully out of the tank into the outside world, taking a breath of the air out there. She took another step but stumbled, suddenly falling, when strong arms grasped her, preventing any injury. 'Asuka,' she thought dazedly, looking up into the eye not covered by the black eye-patch, a change from the flash of images.

"Who are you?" Asuka asked her softly.

She paused in thought, and the name came to her much easier than any of the other ones had. "Rei," she murmured softly, "Rei Ayanami."

Maya arrived a few moments later, carrying another NERV uniform. "Here you go," she handed the pile of clothes to her.

"Thank you," Rei found herself saying softly before she began to pull the uniform on over her naked body. It felt a little strange, she noticed, because she was expecting it to be more skin-tight. 'Plug suit' she thought, unsure of what that name referred to.

"Rei," Misato asked her quietly, "what do you remember?"

Sitting on a bench Rei looked up to meet her dark eyes, knowing that the question was very important to the woman. "Fragmented pieces," she said softly. At Misato's confused look Rei quietly explained, "I know who you and the others are, I know that I'm in Tokyo-3, but I don't know how or why I know that. The knowledge is just... there."

Misato nodded thoughtfully, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Rei responded to her automatically.

Rei looked around her, noticing that Ritsuko was leaning over a console, one that looked like it was tied into the medical monitoring devices. She and several other scientists were talking together quite excitably, but Rei could only hear fragments of their conversation: "the bio-scans read human norms..." "if she has any of ADAM's DNA, it's recessive.." "far less anemic than was previously recorded..." "certainly looks much more healthy.."

A figure settled down beside her, and Rei turned to look at Asuka. The redhead looked at her thoughtfully, "You really don't remember anything?"

Rei shook her head, "Yes and no. I have... images of you, in my head. But they don't seem to make any sense to me."

"I see," Asuka said to her softly, "Well, I know that there are some things that I'd love to forget." She puffed out a sigh, "This time, maybe we can be friends."

'This time?' Rei thought curiously.

In an oddly old-fashioned looking gesture Asuka offered her hand to be shaken as she said, "My name is Asuka Langley."

Rei shook it gently, "I know." A smile, "My name is Rei Ayanami."

"I know," Asuka smiled slightly, a bit of humor in her eyes.

A brown haired scientist bustled over to them, roughly grabbing at Rei's arm and saying, "We need to get a blood sample."

Rei didn't even see Asuka move, she was up out of her seat that fast. She grabbed his wrist and squeezed it hard, making him quickly release Rei's arm with a gasp of pain. Angrily she growled at him, "You could at least ask her politely."

Rei put her hand gently on Asuka's, "It's all right, he's just doing his job." With obvious reluctance, Asuka let him go.

"If so, he's doing it badly," Asuka glared, and Rei realized that her protecting Rei might be from her own issues.

'Did the doctors dio something to her?' Rei wondered, feeling a odd pang of concern.

The man rubbed his sore wrist, keeping an careful eye on Asuka even as he asked Rei, "Could I please get a blood sample?" Rei simply pushed up her shirt sleeve, revealing the bare arm underneath. He got his sample, then all but fled.

Rei wasn't quite sure what to say as she looked over at Asuka, so she smiled at her and simply said, "Thank you very much."

Asuka's cheeks went a bit red, "You're welcome."

Only a few moments later Asuka was called away, and Rei watched her go with a curious expression on her face. Asuka, Misato, and Ritsuko were talking over to the side, keeping their voices down so that they couldn't be overheard.

Finally Misato separated from the others, walking over to Rei silently. "We were just talking about you," she smiled, "when I realized we should probably ask you, first."

"Ask me about what?" Rei asked Misato quietly. She wasn't used to being asked things, given options for her to choose from.

"The doctors want tpo observe you for a day or two," Misato said, "but after that I was wondering if you would like to stay in my apartment, along with me and Asuka?"

Rei hesitated, looking over to gaze at Asuka. The redhead smiled just slightly, and Rei looked back at Misato to say, "Yes, I'd like to."

To be continued...

Notes: This Rei is NOT a blank slate, unlike the first version I wrote about. She had fragmentary memories of all three Reis, though where it came from I'll cover later. Or may not explain. Ha!


	7. Chapter 7

Rebuild of Third Genesis

Seven

A new day dawned in Tokyo-3, and with it more work to do. Misato Katsuragi left Asuka snoring on the couch, the redhead sprawled there under a light sheet. They planned to go shopping for a bed today, to replace the one destroyed in the attack on the city, but it would have to wait until Misato got off shift. It didn't help that there was a lot on Misato's plate right now, too.

In the aftermath of Third Impact, the usefulness of NERV was in question by the United Nations. A perfectly understandable reaction, considering that the whole organization of NERV was founded by a secret conspiracy and that saving the Earth had only been it's second objective. Incredible amounts of money and resources had been wasted, at least in the eyes of the world, and they were demanding steps be taken.

By UN order the majority of NERV branches were closing down, the staff either let go or, if Misato wanted, offered positions at Tokyo-3. Misato had hoped to recruit senior staff from other NERV branches, but a depressing number had disappeared after Third Impact. No one knew if they were willing collaborators with SEELE or simply criminals in other areas, but they had dropped out of sight and no one seemed able to find them.

Worse, many NERV employees no longer wanted to be involved with the organization. During Third Impact everyone at the NERV bases all around the world were reduced to LCL and experienced something like a group mind. Their secrets were stripped bare, their innermost selves revealed to the people they worked with everyday. Some people emerged from that more... centered, purified in a way. But many others couldn't cope and ran away as fast as possible.

'I wonder which one Asuka will be?' Misato wondered as she reviewed files on her desk. 'She was pretty rocky when she awoke, but not so much now.'

Making the overall situation even more complicated, the President of the United States had seized the two NERV facilities there. Both NERV-Boston and what was left of NERV-Nevada were now under US control, presumably because the States wanted to continue experimentation with the S2 engine, a copy of the Angel's S2 organ.

Misato knew the mass production Evangelions had had functioning S2 engines so she supposed it was possible to master the technology, but she had her doubts. As far as anyone could tell the secret of controlling the S2 had died with SEELE, and rebuilding that technology would probably involve a lot of disasters like the S2 engine test that destroyed Area 51.

Shaking her head Misato turned to the resume's on her desk. Staff from NERV-Bethany, NERV-Berlin and NERV-Beijing were transferring in to replace staff lost in the resignations and deaths before and during Third Impact, and she was stuck vetting some of them.

'Thank goodness I dumped the science people on Ritsuko and Maya,' Misato mused as she started digging through the piles, 'but there are still too damn many to go through.'

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

The old United Nations building was underwater, now, but still visible from the city of New York-2, built atop the sunken towers of the original city. It was a marvel of engineering and a symbol of defiance, of how the people refused to abandon the flooded island and instead rose above the waters.

'But is it admirable?' the old man thought as he gazed out the window at the sunken towers out in the bay, 'Or just stubborn?'

Dr. Gerry Cornelius was not the most powerful man at the UN, in fact to most people he was a unknown. However the Englishman had been a very well connected and knowledgeable man in the UN, and had been one of the first to suspect something was going on. Sadly even he hadn't realized how bad it all was, and his agents had paid the price.

A soft knock on the door jarred Gerry out of his dark thoughts and he turned towards the door as he walked over to sit behind his desk, then he called out, "Enter!"

Satoko Shinden nodded respectfully as the green haired Japanese woman entered, closing the door behind her as she walked to the desk and waited. Dressed in a fine business suit she projected the image of a strong, capable woman. In the aftermath of Third Impact she had managed the chaos as the UN's representative along side Katsuragi.

"Miss Shinden, welcome back from Japan," Gerry said respectfully, "I'm sorry to pull you away from the recovery effort."

"No problem sir," Satoko answered calmly, "I'm sure you had good reason to."

There was a certain degree of bite in the last bit, and it made Gerry smile. It was rare that anyone had the nerve to get snippy with him. "That's part of why I asked you here," he acknowledged, "what's the situation in Tokyo-3?"

"Difficult," Satoko answered, "we're just getting services back up over the city, and NERV staff have been fleeing like rats from a sinking ship."

"That bad?" Gerry asked, surprised.

"There were people who did things for Gendo Ikari that were...," Satoko paused, "if not illegal, were at least morally reprehensible. Many of them have chosen to take early retirement or otherwise take their leave."

"Kozo Fuyutsuki?" Gerry wondered.

"He was one of the first to go," Satoko nodded agreement. She smiled grimly, "Misato has been able to lure some staff back, and I understand she is combing through the staffs of other NERV branches for people too."

"Hmm," Gerry nodded as he studied her a moment. She seemed confident and intelligent, just as he'd been told, but he had wanted to see her before he made up his mind. So far, she looked perfect for the job. "You've been keeping an eye on NERV as you assisted with rebuilding." he noted.

"Tokyo-3 is now laid out around the NERV Pyramid. I almost have to keep an eye on them," Satoko told him wryly.

Gerry nodded in agreement as he asked her, "How would you like to keep an eye on them in a more official role?"

"Oh?" Satoko looked curious.

"As much of NERV's funding comes from the United Nations," Gerry told her, "we have decided to keep a closer eye on how that money is used. A liaison officer will be appointed to watch NERV, monitor what they're doing and if needed stomp on them to stop."

"I'd be honored sir," Satoko answered stiffly, "but... are you sure I would be appointed?"

:I'm owed a number of favors, young lady," Gerry smiled as he said, "I feel very certain you'll have the job."

"Sir!" Satoko nodded before she was dismissed.

'Yes, I think this will work out well,' Gerry thought as he got up from his desk and walked back to the window, 'Along with my other precautions.'

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Satsuki Ooi was acting head of NERV-Berlin, a rather large jump in rank from being a mild mannered technician. The tall woman with long brown hair had started out as a simple researcher, and had risen in rank to study the notes of Kyoko Zeppelin Soryu, trying to extract useful technology from the disjointed diaries both before and after her breakdown.

Like everyone else in NERV-Berlin she had been caught up in Third impact, reduced to a puddle of LCL by the image of a woman she had admired. She had found herself dwelling in the group mind for a unknown period of time, before gradually pulling herself free. While part of that joining she had bonded with her friends in a new, deep way. And became aware of the horrors that NERV carried out from others.

'Like our former commander,' Satsuki thought grimly.

The man had resigned not long after her regained consciousness, along with the entire command staff. In a teleconference with acting Commander Katsuragi she had been promoted to Commander of NERV-Berlin, though Misato had also apologetically told her NERV-Berlin was likely to be shut down. However she also had quickly offered Satsuki a position at Tokyo-3.

'I think I'll take her up on it too,' Satsuki mused as the elevator reached a subbasement deep beneath Berlin. This wasn't on any official map, the only reason Satsuki knew about it was studying a power use map and noticing the anomaly.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Aoi Mogami asked, the black haired young woman following her out into the hallway and clicking the flashlight on.

"No, but when has that ever stopped us?" Satsuki asked, smiling.

Aoi smiled back wryly, the smaller woman pushing up her glasses as they looked around. They had both been lab technicians at NERV-Berlin, as well as becoming good friends off duty. Aoi and her had drank together, Kareoke'd together, gotten sick together and generally became best friends in the three years they'd worked here.

"Which way?" Aoi asked, shining the flashlight around.

"There, I think," Satsuki pointed with her own light down a deep, dark tunnel.

"Of course it would be there," Aoi sighed as they headed off. She looked around as they walked, "Awfully clean down here. They must have let cleaning staff in here."

"Or cleaning robots," Satsuki suggested as they walked.

"No robots," Aoi shook her head no.

"Why not?" Satsuki had to ask.

"NERV is too cheap to special build a class of cleaning robots," Aoi pointed out reasonably as they walked along the dark hall.

Satsuki laughed, "You are so right."

They reached the end of the hallway, where a large, unmarked door awaited them, a keypad glowing slightly in the darkness. The door simply bore the stylized leaf of the NERV emblem, with no other text or symbols.

"Any idea what we're dealing with here?" Aoi asked as she unclipped the gun at her side, just in case she needed it.

"Not much," Satsuki said as she used a number off a note to unlock the keypad, "whatever is behind here is Project Valkyrie, and was budgeted under the Dummy Plug project."

"The plan to use Rei clones as pilots?" Aoi blinked.

"That's the one," Satsuki agreed as they walked inside, looking around the dimly lit lab. The section they were in was dark, but there was a source of light ahead of them behind a corner.

"Creepy," her companion noted as they advanced, Aoi staying near her side. They went around the corner then froze, both women staring wide eyed.

"Is that...," Satsuki blinked, taking in the familiar looking girls floating in tanks of LCL.

"I think so," Aoi answered weakly, studying the girls with a faintly shocked expression, "I think they're Asuka."

To be continued...


	8. Chapter 8

Rebuild of Third Genesis

Eight

As the inventory of global NERV assets continued, Tokyo-3 was carrying out their own survey with all the staff they had available. Men and women were exploring all over the NERV pyramid, cataloging equipment and resources as well as searching for any 'surprises' left by the previous commander. Just so far they had found two labs and several storehouses, all not on the building's plans.

Taking a good look around the engineering bays Ritsuko pushed her blonde hair out of her face and said with a dramatic sigh, "Things really are a mess down here."

"Yes, Sempai," Maya quietly agreed with her, the shorter brown haired woman having been following behind Ritsuko most of the day to take notes of their little tour of the engineering wing of the city of Tokyo-3. The place had mostly escaped direct damage in the invasion of NERV, but it was badly shaken by all the lost personnel.

The two surviving EVAs were almost useless, putting it simply. The EVA-02 was still mostly just a pile of wreckage, only partially reassembled from it's near dismembering by the mass production EVAs. EVA-00 was in better shape due to efforts to rebuild it started before Third Impact, but they lacked a pilot for it.

Ritsuko shook her head irritably as she said, "I just wish we had more members of the original repair teams available. Right now, we're having to train the new guys almost as much as they're doing the actual repair work."

"Do you want me to get on the phone," Maya offered quietly, "see if I can talk more of the NERV techs into coming back to work?" The woman in the brown NERV uniform even held up her phone, silently offering to call.

"Do you think you can?" Ritsuko asked her gently. Not only were staff traumatized by the Impact itself, many of them had also only just discovered some of the questionable things NERV had been up to. Not to mention a few being guilty of doing those things...

Maya thought about how bad and crazy things had gotten during the battle of NERV, and sighed softly. "Probably not," she admitted.

Ritsuko put her hand firmly on Maya's shoulder as she said, "We'll just have to manage with what we've got available, then."

Maya blushed brightly even as she squeaked out, "Yes, Sempai!"

Ritsuko flipped her call open and dialed, "Misato? We'll have a full report for you by the end of the day, but It's a mess down here." She listened for a moment then asked, "Heard back from NERV-Berlin, yet? No?"

"I wonder what's holding the report up?" Maya wondered, frowning.

Finishing the call Ritsuko shut the phone and looked around thoughtfully a moment, then decided, "Unit-00 is the nearest to functioning so we'll divert all repair teams to it, and get it running first. Just in case."

"Do you think we need a functioning Evangelion?" Maya asked as they began giving the crews their new orders.

"I don't know," Ritsuko admitted as her lab coat fluttered around her, "but knowing Misato she doesn't want to take chances."

In another part of the massive complex, Misato closed her phone with a weary sigh. Sitting at her desk she went back to reading a series of reports, developing an odd expression on her face. The black haired woman held up the sheets of paper as she addressed the woman in her office, "You're telling me that Rei Ayanami tests out as being entirely human?"

Doctor Suema Kazuko nodded her head firmly, her black hair flowing around her face as she calmly said, "That's exactly what I'm saying."

"And the blue hair?" Misato asked wryly, still wearing a casual jacket over a NERV uniform. Her rank was that of a major, but everyone knew she was getting a promotion pretty soon.

Suema shrugged at her as the more casually dressed woman answered, "Our Miss Langley has red-orange hair, and yours is off-purple. If it helps any, that and a few other odd hair colors are prevalent only in Japan, though we're still trying to find out why that genetic variation exists here."

"Because of Adam, maybe?" Misato asked.

"I wouldn't want to speculate before we've acquired all the facts," she said to Misato just a little bit reproachfully. Suema smiled as she admitted, "I will admit I'm looking forward to working at NERV more and more."

"You cleared up your obligations to your civilian practice?" Misato asked curiously.

"Yes, turned over my patients to friends in the profession or my partners in a clinic I work in," Suema said. Briskly she asked, "Whom will I be working under?"

"Previously medical issues were handled by Doctor Akagi, but with her running Project E I'm splitting the job off," Misato said briskly. "You'll be a new department, no idea what we'll call it, involving medical and psychiatric services for pilots and staff."

Suema's eyes widened, "Really?"

"Don't get too excited," Misato cautioned her, "with the United Nations now watching our budget, I have no idea how much I can give you to actually run this department. Still, whatever money I can get I will provide."

Suema nodded, "Thank you." Getting up she smiled as she said, "Can I get back to putting the medical wing back in shape? Someone trashed it during the attack on NERV."

"Go ahead," Misato smiled, sitting back as she left. She picked up the medical file left on Rei and flipped through it, pondering what to do. Obviously Rei was moving in with her, once the medical observation ended today, but then what? The child seemed entirely unsocialized... A few moments later there was a knock on the door and she called out, "Yes?"

"It's me," Asuka said as she stepped inside, closing the door behind her. The redhead looked good dressed in her NERV uniform, almost like a real military officer. "So what did Doctor Kazuko say?" she asked Misato curiously. She flopped down onto one of the long couches of the office, for a moment looking like a teenager again.

The gaze from Asuka's right eye could be quite piercing, Misato found herself noting. Shrugging that off Misato answered, "The results were about what we were expecting. It appears that this Rei is fully human."

Asuka leaned toward Misato with a frown as she asked, "But why would Gendo create a human version of Rei? Didn't he need the alien part of Rei to try and control Adam and Lilith?"

"I wish I knew," Misato sighed. She smiled at Asuka grimly as she waved around the office in the NERV pyramid, "I've been working through Gendo's personal files to try to find out more, but many of them are double or even triple encrypted. If Ritsuko wasn't so busy with the EVAs, I'd ask her to help me out with them."

"So what do we do now?" Asuka asked curiously.

"For now, we carry on as planned," Misato shrugged. "How ready are you to move back in with me?" she asked Asuka.

"I'm all packed and ready to go," Asuka looked honestly relieved. She hesitated slightly before asking, "And Rei's stuff?"

"The previous Rei didn't have much stuff," Misato said quietly, "and to be honest I'm not to sure if we should pass them on to our Rei." Asuka raised an eyebrow and Misato explained, "So far, she seems to be a mostly blank slate. This is a second chance for her, and I don't know if giving her things from the last Rei will help any."

"But it's still her things, though," Asuka frowned, clearly unsure.

"I'll put the stuff in storage," Misato decided, "if she gets curious we can give them to her later."

"And what about Rei's clothes?" Asuka asked her, "I mean, all she's got to wear right now is that NERV uniform she was given when we pulled her out of the tube. That, and some hospital gowns."

Misato looked over at Asuka thoughtfully to judge her size of clothing as she mused, "I guess your stuff wouldn't fit her too well."

"Oh, no," Asuka quickly protested, "I am NOT sharing my clothes with her!"

'Nice to see her act like a normal teen,' Misato thought as she hid a smile at Asuka's response."The I guess we'll have to take her out and go shopping for clothes," Misato sighed softly. Under her breath she muttered, "I hate shopping."

Asuka smirked, "At least it isn't going to be your money we'll be spending. We can charge everything for Rei to NERV."

"Heh, that's true," Misato chuckled softly. She got up from behind her desk, making sure not to bump her stitches even as Asuka bounced to her feet. "So where is Rei, anyway?" Misato asked her as they left the office and strode down the hallway.

"After the doctor checked her out Rei wanted to try out the EVA simulator," Asuka said with a smile as they took the elevator downstairs.

"Thanks for volunteering to fetch her from the hospital," Misato smiled.

Asuka shrugged slightly uncomfortably, "It was nothing."

After a short walk down another hallway Misato opened up the door and blinked in surprise at the young woman looking wide-eyed at the readouts on the control panels in front of her. She was sort of cute with her long black hair, but the most distinctive feature that she had were the massive round glasses that she wore.

"Ma'am!" Nako popped to her feet and saluted.

"Hi, Nako," Asuka said with a casual wave as she walked over to look in at Rei sitting in the simulator cockpit.

Rei's dark blue hair fell into her red eyes, which were visibly narrowed in concentration. A bit of red colored her cheeks, and she actually looked kind of... excited. Asuka wasn't too sure, but it actually looked like Rei was enjoying herself!

Misato was watching Rei intently, her expression nearly unreadable. "How's she doing?" she asked Nako curiously.

"Great!" Nako beamed, "She's actually matching some of Miss Asuka's best scores!"

"Not bad," Asuka murmured with a smile.

"Simulators are one thing," Misato mused, "actual combat is a very different story. What will happen when we put her in an actual EVA?"

"We'll find out when it happens," Asuka said firmly. She gave Misato a look, "We're not going to put her in Unit-00 until she's ready, right?"

Misato felt a bit of surprise at Asuka's concern for Rei, but she masked it well. "I won't put her in an EVA until I'm confident she can handle it," Misato agreed. She bent forward to say into the microphone, "Rei, we're ending the simulation in a moment."

"Hai," Rei answered, executing a roll to blast the final simulated opponent.

It took only a few moments to shut the simulator down and for Rei to exit the chamber. She looked pretty good dressed in the plug-suit, the skin tight garb clinging to each and every curve. Asuka blushed faintly, looking down to avoid Rei's curious gaze.

Misato smiled at Rei cheerfully, "How'd you like to go shopping?"

"Shopping?" Rei blinked, looking at her quizzically.

Asuka smiled slightly, "Trust me, you'll like it."

"All right," Rei agreed meekly, reaching out to take Misato's hand.

To be continued...


	9. Chapter 9

Rebuild of Third Genesis

Nine

Ritsuko blinked at Misato in honest surprise, summoned to the office Misato was using in the NERV pyramid. "But why do I have to go along?" she finally had to ask Misato, sitting on the comfortable couch in her office.

"Because I hate going shopping," Misato sighed, "and if I have to do it, then I'm sharing the misery." She ran a hand through her short dark hair tiredly and asked her curiously, "What's going on between you and Maya?"

Ritsuko looked surprised at the change of topic as she answered stiffly, "Nothing."

Misato sighed with annoyance as she said, "That's what I mean." She gave Ritsuko a fierce look and asked, "I think you're smart enough to know how she feels about you, right?"

"Yes, I know," Ritsuko met her eyes equally fiercely, "and I also know that it would be completely inappropriate."

"What's going on?" Misato asked her as she met Ritsuko's eyes gently, "I'm asking as your friend, not as the commander of NERV."

Ritsuko sat there silently for a moment her face turned away from Misato's as she softly said, "You knew about my relationship with Gendo?"

Misato looked confused as she answered, "Yes. What's that got to do with...?"

"I knew he was taking advantage of me," Ritsuko's voice was very quiet, almost coming out as a whisper as she told Misato, "knew that he was manipulating me. I just didn't care." She finally turned back to look at Misato as she added, "I won't take advantage of Maya the very same way."

"There is no way," Misato burst out, "that you are at all like Gendo Ikari!"

Ritsuko smiled slightly as she said, "Thank you." The blonde looked into her friend's eyes, "And I don't ever want to become like him, either. So as long as Maya is my subordinate, I will not enter into a relationship with her."

Misato looked at her steadily for a few moments, then she startled her best friend by bursting into loud laughter.

"What?" Ritsuko looked over at Misato like she had lost her mind, her eyes narrowing in pure annoyance.

"I'm glad I put that promotion request through for Maya," Misato chuckled softly as she added smugly, "pretty soon you won't have that excuse to use anymore."

"What?" Ritsuko repeated, as if it hadn't quite penetrated yet.

Misato smirked as she got up from the couch and said, "Come on, let's join the others."

"Wait just a minute," Ritsuko ran to catch up with her.

Maya Ibuki looked over the oversized jeep with a frown, wishing that she had a better vehicle available for their little trip. Still, it was the best she could do on short notice. The boyish looking brown haired woman saw Asuka and Rei walk out of the nearby building and gave them a wave.

"Hey, Maya," Asuka smiled as the fiery haired girl asked, "are you coming along, too?"

A bit of a blush showed on Maya's cheeks as she admitted, "I thought Sempai and Misato could use a driver. Besides, it might be fun."

Maya looked at Asuka covertly, marveling again at how much she had changed. The bitter, angry girl that she had been was seemly gone, with only the occasional flare of temper remaining. She wasn't sure if it was her injuries, or the odd things that they had all been through during the Third Impact, but Asuka was a changed woman.

"Maya," Rei smiled at her tentatively, the almost albino woman staying close to Asuka.

"Hello, Rei," Maya nodded.

Asuka opened up the back door of the jeep, then gently helped Rei up and in. Asuka seemed... slightly torn over helping Rei that way. On one hand she seemed sort of annoyed at the seeming neediness of the other girl, yet part of her also enjoyed caring for someone else.

Noticing Maya looking Asuka scowled, then mustering up some of her old attitude Asuka she asked, "So when are we leaving, anyway?"

Maya smiled back cheerfully, "As soon as Sempai and Misato get here."

The two women came out of the building a few moments later, obviously in the middle of what looked like a heated conversation. "... I can't believe you did that without consulting me," Ritsuko said, "I am still her superior officer, you know."

"She was up for it anyway," Misato shrugged, "so what's the problem?" A smirk teased her lips as she drawled, "Besides your personal one."

"Misato," Ritsuko scolded.

Misato stuck her tongue out at her and blew a loud raspberry as Maya clapped her hands over her mouth to stifle a fit of giggles.

"Well, that was mature," Asuka shook her head ruefully. Rei gently tugged at her arm and Asuka turned to look into those red eyes, "What?"

"What does that mean, anyway?" Rei asked curiously.

Asuka sweatdropped. "It's a bit hard to explain," she started.

Ritsuko resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at Misato in return, but it looked like it was taking a real effort. She got close to the jeep and blinked in surprise at who was sitting in the front driver's seat. "Maya," she said quietly, nodding hello.

"Hello, Sempai," Maya looked a bit nervous as she continued on bravely, "I thought that you two could use a driver."

"Great idea, Maya," Misato beamed as she ordered, "Ritsuko, you get in front with her, I'll ride in the back with Rei and Asuka."

Ritsuko shot Misato a quick glare, but there was nothing reasonable she could say in protest, so she just climbed inside, wishing she wasn't wearing a skirt as the hem rode up. She pulled the cloth down as she settled, but a faint blush colored her cheeks.

Maya looked between the two women, wondering what, exactly, was going on. Tentatively she looked back to ask Misato, "Where do we want to go shopping?"

"A very good question," Misato admitted. She looked over at Rei, "What sort of clothes would you like?"

Rei smiled back shyly as she answered innocently, "I really don't know."

"Then let's hit what's left of the clothing district," Asuka suggested practically, "and let Rei try some different things on. That way she can decide for herself."

"Sounds like a plan," Misato agreed.

Maya started up the engine, looking over at Ritsuko with a little smile as if she was asking her for her opinion. Ritsuko smiled back, "Lets go."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"Oh my," Asuka said weakly as Rei stepped out of the change room dressed in a school uniform. They had used her old size to start with, but obviously that wasn't going to work considering how... sexy Rei looked..

Rei tugged at the too short skirt self consciously, while being careful not to take too deep of a breath in case she popped open her sailor blouse. Misato was killing herself laughing, while Ritsuko and Maya were fighting off a similar urge.

"I think we'll have to try a size larger," Asuka finally managed to get out, her throat strangely tight and her heart beating just a bit faster..

"Thank you," Rei puffed out a sigh before going back into the change room.

"Sorry, Asuka," Misato finally was able to get her laughter under control.

Asuka shook her head as she muttered disapprovingly, "I can't believe you two are supposed to be the adults." She looked at over at Maya and added, "Not that you managed much better."

Maya nodded meekly, but there was a amused twinkle in her eye as she pointed out, "I'm just glad we didn't get a swimsuit for her to try on in that size."

Asuka suddenly had a mental image of Rei nearly spilling out of a swimsuit appear in her head and had to blush furiously. 'Damn it,' she thought fiercely, 'what's wrong with me!'

'Interesting, very interesting,' Ritsuko noted. Aloud she said, "Let's go grab her another uniform, then. Some slacks and shirts, too."

"Right," Misato smiled slightly. Turning towards the change booth she called out, "Rei, what color clothes do you want?"

Without really thinking about it Rei opened up the door to answer, "White and blue."

"Oh, god," Asuka squeaked, turning quickly away from the nude Rei. While still pale she had a much more healthy coloration, and to be honest was much better filled out than the first clone.

Ritsuko stepped forward and shut the door firmly as she told Rei, "Thank you." Moving over to Misato she quietly murmured to her, "We might want to try to explain to Rei the concept of modesty."

"That sounds like a good idea," Misato agreed, noting the fierce blushes on both Asuka and Maya's faces. With a amused smile she ordered,"You take care of Maya, I've got Asuka."

"Right," Ritsuko nodded. She grabbed Maya's hand as she said, "Come on, let's go find Rei a few more items to try on."

"Right, Sempai," Maya stammered, stumbling behind the taller woman.

"You all right?" Misato asked quietly as she stepped up to where Asuka was standing, the redhead looking a bit shell-shocked.

"Sorry, she just surprised me," Asuka said quietly.

"And she'll probably keep doing that too," Misato admitted with a sigh. Asuka looked at her curiously so she explained, "It looks like Gendo educated her about the EVAs and NERV, but he left out all the usual social skills."

"Sort of like the first Rei," Asuka murmured thoughtfully, thinking of her frustrating encounters with the emotionless girl.

Misato shook her head in disagreement, "No, even the first Rei had some body modesty." She looked thoughtful, "Though I do remember Rei traumatizing Shinji once dressed only in a towel."

"Now there's a interesting mental image," Asuka mumbled.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

In a different part of the world Satsuki Ooi, temporary head of NERV-Berlin, was attempting to break into her former employers' files. It wasn't easy but she had put the number crunching abilities of their three Magi to work on the encryption, and she had high hopes on breaking in.

The tall brown haired woman was sitting in her boss' office, the lights on in what normally would have been a dark room. It was a big office with a big desk, and some part of Satsuki was tempted to wonder if her boss had been compensating for something.

"Hullo," a voice called from the doorway, then her friend and co-worker Aoi Mogami stuck her head in and looked around.

"Come on in," Satsuki smiled tiredly.

Aoi walked over to the desk and sat down in the chair opposite of Satsuki, her glasses gleaming. "Have you told Katsuragi at Tokyo-3 about the Asukae?"

"Asukae?" Satsuki blinked.

"Asuka, singular, Asukae, plural," Aoi shrugged. "Well?"

"Not yet," Satsuki admitted. She frowned as she studied the data scrolling on her screen, "I want to find out what they were doing with those clones."

"Back ups?" Aoi offered.

"Maybe, but...," Satsuki started to answer when the computer chirped, signaling the document was decrypted. "Hold on a second," she ordered as she read, her eyes widening in alarm. "Oh hell," she muttered, sitting back.

"What? What?" Aoi asked eagerly.

"They.. let two of the clones out, in a attempt to socialize them," Satsuki said flatly as she closed her eyes, "One is a junior in your department, the other is a pilot trainee."

"One of MY...?" Aoi blinked. Then she shook her head as she asked, "Who's the pilot?"

"The crazy one," Satsuki sighed quietly, "Mari Illustrious Makinami."

To be continued...


	10. Chapter 10

Rebuild of Third Genesis

Ten

Misato's apartment was already a mess, even though she had only moved in a few weeks ago. In the 'new' Tokyo-3 built in the bottom of the now cracked open Geofront the building had been lowered from the rubble of the roof, secured to a new base and repairs quickly made. Thankfully the buildings had been mostly mass produced and modular, so the new city was rapidly taking shape.

The morning light streamed down onto the city, and the people within began to stir somewhat reluctantly. The main high school in the city had reopened, and students walked to the bus stops to be carried to class.

Asuka Soryu Langley watched the kids walk by from the balcony of the apartment, gazing down at them through her one good eye. She remembered going to school just a few short weeks ago, but it felt like a lifetime ago.

'I should call Hikari and Toji,' Asuka mused as she watched the kids, feeling a pang of guilt.

"Good morning Asuka," the quiet voice said.

Asuka turned to see Rei standing by the patio door, her blue hair messy from sleep and wearing a pair of boy's pajamas. She looked surprisingly cute, really, with the sleeves of her large night shirt partially hiding her hands and a cowlick in her hair.

Asuka pushed away from the balcony as she answered, "Good morning." Following Rei back inside she asked, "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I think so," Rei answered, smiling shyly as they navigated through the mostly tidy living room. The two girls had embarked on a major clean up after moving in, shoveling out beer cans and boxed lunches until they could finally see the floor.

"Let's get some breakfast going," Asuka decided, "then we'll wake up Misato."

"I'm awake," Misato called from her bedroom, "be out in a minute."

"Right," Asuka answered as she headed for the small kitchen.

Neither Asuka nor Rei were great cooks, but there was plenty of stuff in the fridge that was pre-made. She casually dug out containers and popped the seals to reheat them, even as she found herself thinking about yesterday, and visiting Shinji at the hospital...

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"Would you mind if I take off for a few minutes?" Misato had asked Ritsuko quietly not long after the group had finished shopping for Rei's clothes.

Ritsuko looked at Misato curiously, "What's going on?"

"The hospital Shinji is staying in is nearby here," Misato said to her quietly, "I wanted to stop in and see him."

"Shinji," Rei echoed, an odd look on her face. Softly she mused, "I know that name."

Asuka felt a pang, having not really thought about her fellow pilot in days. But there was something more important to do as she asked Rei, "You do?"

"Hm," Rei nodded, frowning in concentration, "but I don't know from where."

Misato tried not to frown herself. It looked like Gendo had programmed Rei to recognize them all, then. She looked at Ritsuko, "Do you think we should...?"

Ritsuko shrugged, "I'm not sure, honestly."

"So why don't we all go up and visit him, then?" Maya Ibuki quietly suggested. "That way if something unusual does happen, we'll all be there to help," the dark haired younger woman added.

"Sounds like a plan," Asuka offered supportively.

Misato puffed out a breath, then she nodded. "We'll lock up the bags of clothes in the jeep, then head over to see Shinji," she ordered. And they quickly did just that, and soon the five of them were quietly riding an hospital elevator to an upper floor, each lost in their own thoughts.

Ritsuko looked over at Maya again, and noticed her smiling up at her happily. She looked away quickly as quickly as she could, but felt an odd feeling lingering in her stomach. If she was honest with herself, she'd actually call it excitement on being out in the city with Maya, spending time with her away from their work.

'Even with all these chaperones,' an amused Ritsuko looked over at the other three standing in the elevator with her.

'I wonder what's going on with Sempai?' Maya thought. She had noticed that something had been going on with Ritsuko all day, but what exactly it was she didn't know. What ever it was, it seemed to have begun when Misato and Ritsuko had been talking this morning.

Maya looked over at Misato with a fierce frown and thought, 'What did you say to Sempai to disturb her so much?'

Misato felt the glare and looked over to see Maya's fierce gaze. 'Now what did I do?' Misato wondered. She turned back to look at Asuka and Rei talking softly. Silently, she prayed she wasn't making a mistake, allowing them to be friends like this. Part of her, the military side, still thought it might have been a bad idea to have let Rei out of that containment chamber, but as a human being, it was the right choice to make.

'Which doesn't mean it's not going to come back and bite me on the ass in the end,' Misato thought to herself wryly.

Asuka noted Misato's thoughtful frown, but decided not to disturb her thoughts. She looked down at Rei and smiled slightly, the young woman was studying the elevator with a kind of innocent fascination. It was really odd, how Rei had been given certain kinds of knowledge related to NERV and the EVAs, but still being so utterly clueless about other things.

The elevator bumped to a stop, and Asuka reached over to steady Rei slightly. "Are you all right?" she asked her quietly.

Rei smiled up at her, "I'm fine."

Asuka turned away as they went down the hallway together, and Rei found herself looking up at her thoughtfully. The red-orange hair seemed almost like fire dancing around the girl's head, matching the fiery personality that she knew Asuka had. But that fire seemed to warm Rei, in a way that she wasn't entirely sure she understood. All she really knew was that she liked being around Asuka, whenever she possibly could.

A dark haired man was standing at a door just up the hallway, and he turned to look at them as they approached. "General Kisaragi," he nodded to Misato, obviously having been waiting for them.

"General?" a startled Ritsuko asked Misato softly.

"The promotion came through a few days ago," Misato answered irritably, "I just haven't received the appropriate rank insignia just yet." She looked over at the doctor, "How is he?"

"There's been no change," the doctor shook his head, "he's resting quite comfortably, and we're feeding him intravenously."

"And there's no response to outside stimulus?" Ritsuko asked curiously.

"None," he shook his head. He noticed the time, "Excuse me, I need to go on my rounds."

Misato watched him go, then with a soft sigh said, "We'd better go in." She pushed the door open, leading into a quite normal looking hospital room.

The window curtains blew gently, sunlight streaming in to light up the figure who was laying there on the bed. Shinji Ikari's dark hair was messy, and he almost looked like he was only fast asleep. However, most young boys sleeping wouldn't have tubes and wires attached to them, monitoring each and every flutter of heartbeat or alteration in brain waves. But the very oddest thing about him was the look on his face.

During Shinji's time piloting the EVA, lines of strain had begun to show on his face, aging him prematurely. Each battle strained him in different ways, each had cost him, one way or the other. But the boy laying there seemed to be entirely at peace. From the look on his face, you might even say that he was... happy.

Misato walked over to the side of his bed, gently taking Shinji's hand in her own. "Hello, Shin-chan," she said softly, "I'm here to see you again."

Asuka stood there frozen, gazing at Shinji and trying to separate memory from fantasy. 'He couldn't have tried to strangle me,' she thought of the hazy memories she retained after everything went to hell, 'I didn't really say that I hated him, did I?'

"Shinji," Maya started, only to trail off. She hadn't really known him very well, and looking down at the boy laying there in a coma she felt a sudden stab of regret. She should have at least have tried to get to know him.

Ritsuko moved over to the other side, looking down at Shinji pensively. This was as much her responsibility as anyone else's, she had helped build and maintain the EVAs, and had been quite willing to let Gendo manipulate his son into a pilot's seat. "It's been awhile, Shinji," Ritsuko said softly, sitting down beside him.

They were all startled by a soft voice speaking quite clearly, "He's not there." The looked in surprise at Rei, who was gazing down at Shinji quite oddly.

"What do you mean?" Asuka looked over at Rei curiously as she tried to understand, "Do you mean he's in a coma?"

Yes," Rei looked... uncomfortable, somehow, as she looked down at the boy whom she resembled in many ways. "He's not there anymore," she tried to put her feelings into words, "that's just... a empty shell."

Asuka felt a stab of grief, and part of her wanted to lash out at the innocent girl. But she knew that Rei was only telling the truth as she saw it, even though the truth hurt. Asuka looked at the boy on the bed, machines feeding him and keeping him breathing, and felt a deep regret. She would never be able to make it right, how she treated him, and that filled her with sorrow.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Asuka shook herself out of the past as Misato staggered out of her room, just wearing a loose t-shirt and panties. "Morning," she groaned, shuffling over to the fridge and grabbing a beer. She popped the top then slammed it back, gulping loudly.

Rei watched wide eyed, only blinking occasionally. "Is this normal?" she asked Asuka.

"No, it's not," Asuka sighed. She had been hoping that Misato would turn over a new leaf, but she guessed it wasn't likely.

"Ah!" Misato sighed happily, "That hits the spot."

"You know, you're a general and head of one of the most powerful organizations of Earth," Asuka started.

"Before the budget cut," Misato pointed out.

"Alright, before the cuts," Asuka conceded, "but anyway, do you have to do this?"

"Yes, actually," Misato held up the can, "besides, this is non-alcoholic beer. Tastes disgusting."

Oh," Asuka blinked, mildly surprised as Misato casually tossed the now empty can into the garbage, "sorry."

"No problem," Misato answered then sniffed the air, "is something burning?"

"Oh crap!" Asuka scrambled to get the trays of food out of the oven, glad they weren't too crispy. She sighed as she shoveled the stuff out onto plates, "Sorry, but I think it's still edible."

"Just like I like it," Misato shrugged casually as she began to eat with evident pleasure.

'She must have blown out her taste buds or something,' Asuka sighed as she ate. "Are the staff members from NERV-Berlin arriving today?" she asked curiously.

"They're flying in tonight," Misato agreed. She looked curious, "Want to be there to meet them?"

"If I could," Asuka smiled.

To be continued...

Notes: Yes, I am NOT planning on bringing Shinji back this time. Or at least, I don't think I will at this time. Depends on where the plot goes, of course.


	11. Chapter 11

Rebuild of Third Genesis

Eleven

The private jet came into the Asian region high above the islands and land masses that dotted the world, the pilot handling the high powered craft smoothly. The passenger compartment was busy with conversation, several of the women chatting as they prepared for what the evening would bring.

Hitching a ride with them from Germany was Mari Illustrious Makinami, the English pilot and self-styled bezerker. She had been running simulations of fighting Angels for years, but this would be her first visit to the city of Tokyo-3 itself.

Satsuki Ooi, temporary head of NERV-Berlin, watched the brown haired girl as she chatted away with two of the research techs who were also transferring to Tokyo-3. The tall brown haired woman wondered if Mari even suspected her true nature, cloned from the cells of Asuka Langley Soryu to be a 'spare' if the pilot ever went down.

'And do I have the right to tell her?' Satsuki wondered. As best she could determine Mari was happy with her foster family and life as a pilot candidate, did she have the right to ruin that? 'But doesn't Mari deserve the truth, too?' she thought.

"You look lost in your thoughts," her friend Aoi Mogami noted, sitting down beside her in one of the fancy seats. Her square framed glasses gleamed, and her short black hair fell around her face quite cutely. They had heard Misato didn't stress formality, but both were dressed in their fancy uniforms, just in case.

"Just thinking about our two young charges," Satsuki admitted, nodding to where Mari was arguing with Mana Kirishima, a technician they had brought along from Nerv-Berlin. 'And not incidentally the other Asuka clone.'

It was fascinating what different conditions had brought out of the two young women. Mari was a intense female warrior who ate, drank and presumably slept focused on piloting Evangelion, along with apparently shagging any single male living in a one mile radius. Mana was cheerful, outgoing, a frigging genius with computers, but probably the most non-violent person Satsuki had ever met. And, if the rumors were true, might be sleeping with as many people as Mari.

"You're trying to decide what to tell them," Aoi guessed wisely. She sat back in the comfy chair, sighing as she admitted, "I don't think we should tell them."

"No?" Satsuki looked over at her friend in surprise as she asked, "Why not?"

"How does it help them to know?" Aoi replied reasonably. "Right now they have fairly happy lives and appear to be reasonably content. Telling them would just wreck that."

"I know, but...," Satsuki trailed off, not sure how to put all her feelings in words. "Wouldn't we be lying to them?" she asked.

Aoi frowned, "Maybe, depends on how you look at it."

Not too far away Satoko Shinden looked out the window, gazing out at the waters and islands as the UN representative thought of the whirlwind trip around the world she had just finished. From the UN headquarters up to Canada, then a flight out to China. Hopping across the country she hit as many NERV facilities as she could, then headed up into Europe and the bases there. Finally she ended up in NERV0Berlin, just in time to catch a plane to Japan.

Frankly, Satoko wanted to just sack out, but she tried to stay awake to be polite. And, of course, she didn't want to be sleepy meeting Misato again. They had worked together in the trenches after the disaster hit, and had developed a strong admiration for the woman. The last thing she wanted was to have Misato seeing her groggy and out of sorts.

One of the stewardesses entered the compartment, smiling in a friendly way as she told them, "Our estimated time of arrival at Tokyo Airport is twenty minutes. If you want any food or drink, I'd suggest ordering now."

Satoko smiled as she waved, "Could I get a cola, miss?" A few moments later Satoko was sipping her drink, the caffeine laced drink helping revive her a little.

Satoko wasn't sure how she'd be received in Tokyo-3, especially considering her new role. As the new UN inspector she would be required to heavily monitor what NERV was doing and how they spent their money, and she strongly suspected the head of NERV wouldn't like that.

'Hopefully I can convince her I'm not an enemy,' Satoko sighed as she finished off her drink with a embarrassingly loud slurp.

"You look pretty jet lagged," a sympathetic voice noted, and Satoko looked up at the young woman standing nearby. Her dark brown hair was scruffy, suiting her crooked smile, but her eyes seemed warm and kind.

"Miss Kirishima?" Satoko asked her, hopefully getting the name right. She was pretty damn tired, after all.

"Yeah, but please call me Mana," she smiled. She sat down in a nearby chair as she asked, "Are you all right?"

"Just very tired," Satoko admitted, smiling back at the friendly young woman, "I've crossed so many time zones I don't know if I should be in bed or awake."

Mana half got up as she said, "Do you want me to let you rest?"

"No, no," Satoko smiled slightly as she answered, "I better not nap. I need to stay awake for a few more hours at least."

Mana hesitated a moment, fidgeting in her seat. "Uhm, I haven't been to Tokyo-3, what's it like?" she finally asked.

Satoko smiled back, slightly amused by the girl's innocent excitement, "It's a bit in poor shape, what with everything that happened."

"I've been following the rebuild on the news," Mana admitted a bit sheepishly, "They're rebuilding the city on the base of the Geofront, in the depression where everything fell in."

She tried not to laugh as Mana nattered on excitedly, and Satoko tossed in a few bits about how she and the others helped during the first few weeks after the event happened. "I guess you're looking forward to going to Tokyo-3?" she asked, smiling.

"Oh yes!" Mana nodded eagerly, "it's a top posting for a information manager like me! Plus, I'd get a chance to work with the original Magi."

"Aren't there Magi computers at all major NERV bases?" Satoko asked curiously.

"No, the original Magi have always been a step beyond the later models," Mana said firmly, "though no one is quite sure why." She dropped her voice as she added, "Some people even say that the Tokyo-3 Magi are haunted by their creator, Naoko Akagi."

"Don't suggest that to the current Dr. Akagi," Satoko advised, "she might get a wee bit upset."

"Oh, yeah," Mana looked sheepish.

This time the speaker crackled as the plane shifted course. "Coming in to Tokyo Airport," the pilot announced, "please return to you seats and buckle up."

Everyone hurriedly obeyed as the plane descended, and Satsuki took a nervous breath as she belted herself in. Aoi noticed her white knuckles as she asked impishly, "Don't like flying?"

"Flying I'm fine with," Satsuki said firmly, "it's landings that give me the shakes."

"Do you want me to get you something strong to drink?" Aoi asked gently, "It might take your mind off of it."

"No, then I'd be sick," Satsuki growled as they descended, the plane bumping a bit as it hit the winds at lower levels.

Instead of thinking about the landing Satsuki concentrated on the view out the window. The original Tokyo Airport was unusable, both due to flooding and the Jet Alone incident. And the replacement airport built for Tokyo-2 was scragged in the attempted Third Impact triggered by SEELE.

In the aftermath a improvised field had been constructed not far from Tokyo-3, and it was VERY improvised. The 'tower' was a recently built and rickety looking affair, and the landing strips were all made from recently poured concrete and painted by volunteers. It looked like something belonging in the third world, not a major nation.

"That's the airport?" Aoi squeaked as they circled. "I may get a drink myself."

Thankfully they made it down without too many bumps and thumps, and as they taxied to a stop they saw two military style utility vehicles driving up. The ramp for the plane went down as the stewardesses ushered them out, smiling cheerfully.

Maya Ibuki and Misato Katsuragi were driving the two vehicles, Misato stepping forward to greet them first. "I'm sure you're all tired as hell, so let's cut the formality and get back to Tokyo-3," she said simply. "I'm Misato Katsuragi to those I haven't met, welcome to Japan."

"I like this woman," Mari grinned before fighting back a yawn.

"All right, Satsuki, Aoi, and Satoko, you're with me," Misato gestured to her vehicle, "everybody else gets to ride with Maya. Move out!"

"You're reminding me strangely of my old camp counselor," Satoko noted as she and Satsuki silently asked each other who would take the shotgun seat. Satsuki willing conceded the post to sit in back with Aoi, and Satoko climbed in with Misato up front.

Misato chuckled, "Comes from taking care of teenagers too long." She started up the engine then floored the gas, the tires squealing before they lurched forward.

"Damn it, Misato! Do you want me throwing up back here?" Satsuki yelped even as she and Aoi hurriedly belted themselves in.

"Sorry," Misato eased up on the gas a bit even as Maya tried to catch up with them.

"I see you still drive like a maniac," Satsuki added grimly.

"I take it you know each other?" Satoko asked with some amusement.

"I visited Berlin a bit in the old days," Misato admitted as they drove to the basin that was the cracked open Geofront, then took a steep road down to the new city.

"And she was as bad a driver there too," Satsuki growled as she held the back of the front seat, the vehicle tipping forward at nearly a 45 degree angle.

"Isn't this a little steep?" Aoi asked weakly as she held on too.

"There's a more gently sloped road, but it's longer too," Misato said, completely looking away from the road as she addressed Aoi, "I figured you'd want to get here quicker."

"Eyes on the road!" Satoko yelped.

"Sorry," Misato turned back just in time to swerve around a truck, the driver looking terrified at the near miss. "Now, you have two options," she said as she drove, "you can stay at what's laughingly being called a hotel, or at NERV housing."

"What's the hotel like?" Aoi had to ask.

"Somebody has bought a old residential tower and is converting it," Misato said cheerfully, "but it's still pretty much a wreck. The only reason I don't shut him down is because we need somewhere to stuff the US observers. Scares them right off."

"I thought the US was persona non grata, because of their seizing NERV facilities for themselves?" Satoko asked.

"Why do you think I scare them off?" Misato gave a shark like smile.

"I think we'll take the NERV housing," Satsuki decided.

To be continued...

Notes: At this point the story will start really diverging from the original Third Genesis. I'll still salvage bits from the original, but it's much less relevant.


	12. Chapter 12

Rebuild of Third Genesis

Twelve

Maya Ibuki awoke to the sound of two women arguing, off in the distance. The brown haired woman sat up in her bed, looking around the NERV housing suite tiredly. Then with a yawn she got up, dressed in a old shirt and shorts, and grabbed a robe before seeing what was going on.

Two young ladies were in the hallway not far from her door, arguing while dressed in pretty much nothing at all. "You used up the hot water!" the girl with glasses yelped, scowling.

"I did not!" the slightly mousier looking girl shot back defensively, still damp from the shower.

"Would you two please quiet down?" Maya demanded sleepily.

Both women rounded on her as the glasses wearing girl demanded, "Damn it, does this place even have decent plumbing?"

"You're lucky we have pluming," Maya shot back before adding, "the hot water tank kicks in again after a few minutes."

"Sorry, miss," the mousier girl said, then her eyes widened, "Captain Ibuki? Oh geeze, I'm sorry we woke you!"

"You're Mana, right?" Maya yawned, "And you're Mari. Keep in mind most of NERV's staff is in these buildings, it'd be best not to piss them off."

"Too late," a voice growled from farther up the hall. All of them saw Misato looking sleep rumpled and pissed off, her almost purple hair standing up slightly as the sexy woman stood there in her usual night clothes.

"Oh crap," Mari winced, standing straight and trying to look at attention. Mana went pale, visibly trying to hide behind Mari if possible.

"Sorry, ma'am," Maya said to Misato, sighing.

"Not your fault," Misato sighed, running a hand through her hair, her tank top riding up to flash some underboob. Her bikini panties were black, and everyone was trying not to gawk. She shook her head, "I need some breakfast."

With that she walked off, leaving silence in her wake. "That's the boss?" Mari noted after a moment, "I think I like it here already."

"Mari!" Mana yelped.

"The shower should have refilled by now," Maya noted, "take your turn and keep it down, please." With that she walked back to her own suite, yawning tiredly. She made her way back to the bed, pausing a moment as she looked at the woman in the bed there.

Ritsuko Akagi laid on the bed, her blond hair spread out on the pillow, her arm curled around where Maya had been sleeping beside her. She stirred, looking up at Maya sleepily as she asked, "What happened?"

"The new girls found out about our off and on hot water," Maya said gently. She reached out, running a finger through the blond hair as she hesitated, then asked, "Senpai, why now?"

Ritsuko sat up, her nightie hugging her body as she looked at Maya fondly. "Why did I decide to sleep with you?" she asked.

"Well, yes," Maya blushed.

Ritsuko's hair fell into her eyes, giving her a softer look. "I... it's kind of hard to explain," she admitted. She looked at Maya as she said, "You know, I've been aware of how you felt about me for awhile."

Maya blushed slightly, "I thought so."

"I don't think I'm worthy of you, Maya," Ritsuko admitted, "I've done... some very questionable things, for NERV and Gendo. But I just couldn't stay away."

"I'm glad," Maya kissed her gently. "But you'd better be serious about this. I know I am."

Ritsuko kissed her back lingering, "Hmm, so am I." She hesitated, looking outside at the Sun rising over the edge of the crater where Tokyo-3 now sat and sighed, "I don't suppose we could just go back to bed?"

"I think Misato has plans," Maya made a face, "besides, the kids woke her up too. I bet you she's gonna be cranky."

"Oh, lovely," Ritsuko sighed, rubbing her eyes tiredly. She sighed, "Uhm, I don't suppose you could make us some breakfast? I'd volunteer, but I burn water."

Maya laughed softly, "Sure, but you get to help."

"Very well," Ritsuko sighed as she got up to follow Maya.

Meanwhile, Misato yawned as she stumbled back into her own suite, knowing the odds were poor she'd be able to get back to bed. Asuka stumbled out of her room, while sounds from Rei's smaller room indicated she was stirring too.

"What the hell was that about?" Asuka growled sleepily, her hair messy and having forgotten her eyepatch. The sightless eye stared straight ahead, no matter how she moved. It was kind of eerie looking, really.

"Our new guests from NERV Berlin," Misato told her dryly. "It seems your countrymen don't like our off and no hot water."

Asuka snorted with amusement. She turned around as she noted, "I better get dressed, I doubt we'll get any more sleep."

"Wark!" PenPen complained bitterly, the penguin clearly annoyed over being waked up.

"Yeah, yeah," Misato chuckled, going to the fridge and getting out a tin of sardines. She calmly popped the key and opened the tin, then unceremoniously dumped it into a dish.

The Penguin gave her a look at how messily it was dished up, then PenPen began to scarf down his food. "Wark," he grumbled, eating.

Rei Ayanami emerged from her room, thankfully dressed in a old shirt and a pair of shorts. She had originally just skipped night clothes, nearly making both Misato and Asuka choke on their morning drinks. Thankfully she quickly caught on it wasn't a good idea, and now always wore clothes.

"Good morning," Rei smiled gently.

"What's good about it?" Misato grumbled as she got a alcohol free beer out of the fridge and slammed it back. It tasted awful, but she was determined to try to change her ways, damn it!

"That's a rhetorical question, right?" Rei asked, still smiling as she studied Misato thoughtfully.

"Yes it is," Misato admitted, "I just hate getting up early." She snorted quietly, "Especially after a late night like yesterday."

"You and Maya got the Berlin people and brought them back here, correct?" Rei asked curiously, sitting on the counter by where Misato was leaning.

"Yeah, it was a late flight too," Misato sighed tiredly, taking another can out of the fridge and popping it open. She tossed it back, then nearly choked. "What the hell, iced coffee?" she gurgled, staring at the can in annoyance.

"Uhm, that's mine actually," Asuka noted, coming out of her bedroom dressed in her NERV uniform. The trousers and shirt hid her scars, not a incidental consideration, plus it gave her a sense of security too.

"Get some cans that look different than my beer ones," Misato ordered dryly. Though admittedly, the caffine was helping wake her up faster.

"Yeah, yeah," Asuka carefully grabbed one of her coffee cans and drank it. "Are we all going into NERV today?" she asked curiously even as Rei sipped some water.

"Yeah, more damn meetings," Misato made a face, "we're integrating staff from NERV Berlin and other bases the UN is shutting down, plus I need to talk to our new UN Inspector too."

"I thought you got along with her pretty well?" Asuka asked, picking up the misgivings in the older woman's voice.

"Satoko Shinden and I got along well when she was a UN relief manager," Misato smiled slightly, "I have no idea how well she'll take to being elevated to becoming my boss."

"She is not your employer, correct?" Rei blinked, tilting her head to the side questioningly.

"Well, not technically," Misato conceded, "but the UN has taken over the funding of NERV. If she wants to, she can make things hard on me."

"So just use that unresistible charm on her," Asuka teased.

Misato rolled her eyes, "Asuka, you are just asking to do the dishes tonight." Rei bit back a giggle, and Misato hid her own smile as Asuka pouted.

"Considering we usually get take out, that's a empty threat," Asuka noted. She smiled slightly as she said, "Who wants breakfast?"

"Is it going to be burnt again?" Rei asked innocently.

"Probably," Asuka laughed.

"Bring it on," Misato chuckled, heading off to get dressed herself.

Later that afternoon Misato sighed tiredly after a very packed morning. She had met with Satoko Shinden, which had honestly gone better than she expected. Satoko seemed to understand the condition NERV was in and the resources they would need, if they were going to make a serious attempt at being a planetary protection agency.

'Of course, we'll see how cooperative she is once the bills to rebuild Unit-2 come in,' Misato mused. She noted it was time for another meeting, so she tidied her desk while waiting for the knock. A few moments later it arrived, and she yelled for them to come in.

Satsuki Ooi lead the way inside, the tall brown haired woman smiling warmly, while behind her Aoi Mogami looked a bit more nervous. "Thanks for seeing us," Satsuki smiled, shaking Misato's hand.

"No problem," Misato said, shaking both her and Aoi's hands, "I'm thinking of asking you to take my old spot here at NERV."

"I'd be honored," Satsuki admitted, smiling slightly. More seriously she said, "There's some things we need to talk about first... it's possible you'll end up firing us both."

"Ominous," Misato noted, waving both women to the nearby seats. She sat down too as she asked, "Tell me more."

"It's kinda complicated," Aoi admitted, "while working with Satsuki, we found power indicators showing activity beneath NERV Berlin, activity that shouldn't have been there."

"When we went down to check it out we found," Satsuki looked like she was searching for the right words, "clones. Specifically, clones of Asuka Soryu Langley."

"You have GOT to be kidding me," Misato breathed out, shaking her head. "Please tell me you destroyed them."

"We did," Satsuki confirmed, glad the Misato's reaction seemed to match her own.

"But apparently two clones from that project were altered, and released into society," Aoi said quietly, "for we think the last two years or so."

"Who...," Misato started, then made a face. "Don't tell me: Mari and Mana?"

"Yes, ma'am," Satsuki nodded glumly, "and to be honest Aoi and I weren't sure how to handle it. Tell them they're clones? Keep it a secret? I don't know."

Misato sighed, "Tell me about it..."

To be continued...


	13. Chapter 13

Rebuild of Third Genesis

Thirteen

"I really wish you had decided on promoting Maya earlier or later," Ritsuko Akagi complained as the dyed blond sat in Misato's office in the Pyramid, the two catching up after a long day with the new arrivals and the UN Inspector.

"Why, will your finally sleeping with her mess it up?" Misato asked archly, the purple black haired woman drinking some coffee.

Ritsuko nearly choked on her own cup, but recovered quickly. "How did you...?" she asked, blushing slightly.

"You're wearing yesterday's clothes," Misato shrugged, "besides, Maya isn't the most subtle girl. She was nearly hissing when Mari tried chatting you up."

Ritsuko snickered softly at that. "Mari's a little young for me, thank goodness," she noted. She hesitated, "Uhm, I'm aware that Maya and I might be violating regulations..."

Misato snorted. "Oh come on," she shook her head as she asked, "do you think I even give a shit about that?"

"Well, no, but I thought I should bring it up," Ritsuko admitted.

"Hell, under the terms of your release you're probably more a subordinate to Maya," Misato noted thoughtfully. She smirked, "Do you feel taken advantage of, Miss Akagi?"

"Don't joke," Ritsuko sighed. A bit more seriously she asked, "Have you figured out how the staff are going to play out?"

"I'm putting Maya in charge of Project E, more or less," Misato admitted, "with you and the Evangelion repair staff under her."

"Makes sense," Ritsuko nodded agreeably.

"Satsuki Aoi is getting my old job, though to be honest I wish I could do it and be Commander," Misato admittted.

Ritsuko shook her head, "No way you'd be able to keep up the paperwork for both jobs."

"Damn right, I'm nearly swamped as it is," Misato admitted with some frustration.

"Get a secretary," Ritsuko suggested gently, "I doubt Gendo slept most nights, and there's no way you want to run the place like he did."

"Hmm," Misato shrugged. "Aoi Mogami has also agreed to join bridge staff, and I'm thinking of offering Mana Kirishima the other slot. She works well with Satsuki and Aoi, and she's fully qualified for the job."

"The medical division up and running?" Ritsuko asked curiously.

"What there is of it," Misato admitted wryly, "so far all we have is Dr. Suema Kazuko and a nurse or two. And her 'nurses' are just staff with first aid qualifications."

"How busy is she?" Ritsuko asked curiously.

"She's handling the medical reviews for all the new staff coming in," Misato shook her head, "she's probably more swamped than I am."

"I can maybe lend her some staff," Ritsuko offered tentatively, "my people have salvaged everything we can from Unit-02 and put it in cold storage. Rebuilding is going to just take time."

"Makes sense," Misato admitted, "but keep some of your staff working on a estimate on repair costs. I need something to show Satoko, even if it's just a WAG."

"Wag?" Ritsuko blinked.

"Something I picked up working with the engineers working on Tokyo-3," Misato snickered, "Wild Ass Guess."

Ritsuko chuckled too. "I'll try to avoid too many of them, but honestly we've never rebuilt a Evangelion from this degree of damage. It may end up having to be redesigned, based on what we can do," she told her.

"We can't get more material from Lilith," Misato got where she was going, "and I assume you can't just... culture material from the Evangelion itself?"

"Not at this point," Ritsuko shrugged, "maybe in the future, but it's beyond what I can do now. So we may have to use mechanical systems, or some other technology."

"I other words, let you work on it," Misato laughed. She looked off into the distance, "How do you like working with Kuki?"

"Cookie and I get along well," Ritsuko shrugged, "and Maya seems to have gotten over her instant adversarial reaction."

"She's cute and Maya knows she's going to be working closely with you," Misato shrugged. "We need to get Kuki safely married or something."

Ritsuko shook her head, "Well, either way she's sharp, bright and tops in her field. I wish I had her before things went to hell."

"Hmm," Misato agreed.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Satoko Shinden paused in the door to the new medical wing, or more accurately the old offices that had been converted to a medical wing. Connecting walls had been knocked down between the rooms to create a larger chamber, and curtained cubicles had been made to house patients. They weren't terribly well equipped yet, but a computer station had been rolled in, along with some diagnostic equipment and a examining table.

The doctor was turned away from the doorway, checking something in front of her. "Please step behind the curtain and undress, then we can start the check up," she said tiredly, her long black hair reaching her waist.

"Usually if someone wants me to undress I get a meal first," Satoko noted mildly, smiling.

The woman turned, blinking, then smiled faintly as she realized the woman wasn't in the usual NERV uniform. "I'm Doctor Suema Kazuko, and you are?" she asked curiously.

"Satoko Shinden," she introduced herself, "I'm the UN Special Inspector for NERV. Pleased to meet you."

Suema shook her hand firmly, but not so hard as to crush her hand. "And pleased to meet you too," she said with a impish smile, "are you the one I need to butter up to get more equipment for my medical wing?"

"Not exactly," Satoko laughed softly. "I send reports to the UN, where decisions on funding are made. Hopefully my reports will have weight with what they decide," she shrugged.

"Fair enough," Suema acknowledged. "Now, did you need a medical exam?"

"Oh no, thanks you," Satoko quickly waved her hands as she stepped away. "Totally clean bill of health, I'll have my records forwarded to you."

"Chicken," Suema teased as Satoko hurried away.

Satoko bit back a laugh as she headed to the elevators. She was touring the NERV pyramid on her second day here, trying to get a sense where NERV was at right now. The damage the military assault had done to NERV was all over, with armored doors blasted open and walls scorched or splattered with long dried blood. The facility was so big they hadn't had the opportunity to get to all the sections that had been hit.

Reaching the elevators Satoko swiped her card in the key slot, then went in. Her new pass card seemed to give her access to wherever she wanted, just as Misato had promised. She trusted Misato, mostly, but she was still faintly surprised at the areas she could go to. On impulse she pressed the button for the deepest sub basement, where once the greatest secrets of NERV resided.

The elevator descended for long seconds, then came to a stop in a dim hallway. Satoko's key card opened the armored doors, then she continued on into a open, natural cavern connected to the base. Light came in from powerful flood lights, shining off the lake of LCL and illuminating the remains of failed Evangelions and the cross where Lilith had been nailed to.

"Whoa," Satoko breathed out, walking forward on the metal platform just above the LCL. It smelled pungent and earthy, like rust or blood.

This place was the heart of the attack of the angels, the war that nearly devestated the economies of the planet. This was what SEELE had wanted to manipulate to transform the world, and what many thought Yui Ikari had turned against them.

Part of Satoko wanted to revere this place, almost like a historic site. Another part wanted her to burn it all away, to destroy what almost felt unholy and unclean. In the end she made herself turn around and leave, not trusting her own reactions. She took the elevator back up, leaning against the wall and feeling a odd chill in her bones.

As the elevator reached ground level the doors opened, and Satoko was mildly surprised to see Misato there. "You all right?" she asked suddenly, "Terminal Dogma can be a bit overwhelming..."

"How...," Satoko blinked.

"The card," Misato shrugged as she stepped in and pressed the level her office was on, "our computers register when they're used."

Satoko opened her mouth to say something cross about being spied on, then shut it again. There was no reason for her to assume the Magi computers weren't watching her, and it had been dumb to assume she wasn't unmonitored.

"And you're not being spied on," Misato added evenly, "even I didn't know Gendo had a alarm in his office set to go off if anyone entered Dogma." Crossly she added, "Scared the shit out of me when it went off."

Satoko bit back a chuckle at that mental image, even as they reached the upper levels of the Pyramid. "Well, thank you for being concerned," she admitted, "that place was pretty eerie."

Misato lead her to her brightly lit office, then both women sat on the couch. "It gave me the shivers the first time I was down there too," she agreed, the sun making the sky a rose shade as it began to set behind the 'hill' created by blasting open the geofront.

"Do you know why Gendo...," Satoko trailed off, not sure how to ask the question. Hell, she wasn't even sure what she wanted to ask!

"I'm working on cracking into Gendo's journals," Misato admitted with a sigh, the other woman smiling tiredly, "but he heavily encrypted them. I have the Magi working on cracking it, but it's going to take time."

"You think there might be answers in his diaries?" Satoko asked curiously.

"Damn if I know," Misato shrugged, "but I can hope, right? I mean, we assume Gendo did what he did to try to save his wife, but we really don't know."

Satoko sighed, sitting back on the couch. Looking down she noted, "I see you added a carpet."

Misato shrugged, "There's only so long you can stand to look at mystical inscriptions before you have to cover them up." She paused, "Besides, the floor got cold."

Satoko had to laugh at that...

To be continued!


	14. Chapter 14

Rebuild of Third Genesis

Fourteen

Despite how busy the whole staff of NERV was with salvage and rebuilding both in the Pyramid and around Tokyo-3, the doctor still insisted Asuka continue with her physical therapy. Despite Asuka's arguing it wasn't that necessary, or that she was working just as hard hauling salvage, she still had to go to the weight room a hour a day.

With a soft hiss of pain Asuka finished doing her arm curls before letting the weight thump to the carpet of the large exercise room. She looked around and scowled once again at the overall pinkness of the place, but it was well equipped for what she needed to do. She had lost both her muscle tone and flexibility after her injuries, and working out in here helped undo the damage. And it also gave the orange haired young woman in white T-shirt and black shorts some time alone to think.

Last night, she, Misato and Rei had eaten a quickly prepared meal, then they had retired to their beds just like normal. Rei and her had disrobed in the little bedroom together, and again Rei had shown a utter lack of body modesty.

'Not that it should have mattered,' Asuka admitted, but she had found herself admiringly looking at Rei undress through her right eye. The round breasts, hips, and the small blue triangle of hair, she had seen them all before Rei pulled the white nightshirt on.

Rei had seemed to drop off to sleep in her bed almost instantly, but it took Asuka a bit of time to calm down before the long day finally caught up to her. She slept soundly, though her sleep was troubled by odd dreams, only awakening once in the night.

She still didn't know what caused it, but Asuka had slowly drifted back to wakefulness. Rei lay snuggled safely in her arms, obviously having gotten up out of her bed in the night and slipping into Asuka's. Her face childlike in repose Rei slept there soundly, and Asuka just couldn't bear to wake her up and send her back to her own bed. Instead, Asuka gently tightened her arms around Rei and returned to sleep.

The next morning had been a bit awkward for Asuka, but Rei had seemed entirely unaffected. Asuka still couldn't tell if Rei was doing all this intentionally, but whatever it was she was beginning to get to her. When Rei had softly suggested they push the two beds together Asuka hadn't even argued, just leant the muscle to help.

'I liked sleeping with her,' Asuka had to admit. She didn't think of herself as having such inclinations. At school she had the usual crushes on older girls, but nothing had come of it. And clearly she liked boys, considering her flirting with Shinji and interest in Kaji. But clearly Rei... triggered something inside her. What it was, Asuka wasn't quite sure.

Finishing her routine with the weights Asuka got up, stretching tiredly. She had to meet Rei and Mari at the simulators soon, then they would grab lunch together. She was trying to get to know Mari better, since the three were now NERV's only pilots, but she wasn't sure she liked her.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Meanwhile, in the main control center of NERV the staff were still familiarizing themselves with their new jobs. Satsuki Ooi was the new commander, which she found a bit of a odd fit. From here Misato Katsuragi had successfully fought off the Angels, quite possibly saving the world, and those were very big shoes to fill.

Aoi Mogami looked up at her friend, a slight smile as the young woman manned a work station. "Don't be so nervous," she advised.

"I am not nervous," Satsuki protested as she stopped her nervous pacing.

Mana bit back a chuckle as the brown haired young woman worked. She was running diagnostics on the Magi computers, the three super computers that ran Tokyo-3, NERV and much of the surrounding region. The tests checked out, but there was a odd degree of lag in responses.

"You're frowning," Aoi noted to the other young woman, "what's wrong?"

"Just running some simulated problems with the Magi," Mana admitted. She looked at the other two ladies, "I'm noticing some lag, and the three Magi seem to be communicating with each other more than the Magi at NERV-Berlin did."

"Huh," Satsuki checked the data logs, "point three seconds is a lag?"

"For a Magi computer, that's a lot actually," Mana said.

"She's got a point," Aoi conceded as she ran her own diagnostics. "Communication between the Magi is up too," she noted, "which isn't supposed to happen unless they have a major problem it takes all three brains to solve."

"First full day on the job and I have a computer glitch," Satsuki muttered, shaking her head. "Okay," she asked, "can you tell what is wrong with them?"

Both Mana and Aoi exchanged looks. "We can run pre-packaged diagnostics and try to narrow down the problem," Mana said diplomatically, "but the Magi are... incredibly sophisticated. Fixing them would require calling in a expert."

"And that would be...?" Satsuki asked, though she strongly suspected what they would answer.

"Ritsuko Akagi," Aoi shrugged.

"Ugh," Satsuki grunted. She ran a hand through her hair as she muttered, "She and Captain Ibuki are up to their tits in work trying to get Unit-00 up and running. I do not want to drop anything else in their laps."

"Well, we'll do what we can here," Mana said, "but why not bump this up to Katsuragi? She can then make the call to pull Ritsuko in."

"Sounds like a plan," Satsuki conceded, nodding slightly. "Thanks, Mana, she said as she trotted over to her workstation to compose a report to Misato.

"Nice," Aoi smiled at Mana, then both went back to work.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"All right!" Mari cheered as the three pilots coordinated their attacks and destroyed another simulated Angel.

"We defeated the Angel three seconds faster," Rei noted cheerfully, a smile tugging on her lips.

Asuka still found it kind of odd seeing Rei be so much more emotional. She liked it, mind you, but it still felt odd. "Not bad, Mari," she conceded, "but be careful rushing in like you did on the last run. If the enemy has a unexpected ability, it could nail your ass."

Mari smirked in her simulated entry plug as she asked, "Oh, like what happened with you fighting against Israfel?"

Asuka bit back a growl, making herself calm down. She HAD screwed up back then, after all. "Yes, like I did," she agreed after a moment, "if Misato hadn't come up with a crazy plan, we might have lost that fight."

Mari looked disappointed that Asuka didn't get angry. As the three pilots waited for the next simulation to start she asked, "What was Ikari like?"

"I assume you mean Shinji, and not the old man?" Asuka asked, wishing the other girl had not asked that question. Mari seemed to have a real gift for hitting her switches.

"Yeah," Mari nodded, "I mean, I've read the after action reports and all that. But you knew him..."

Asuka gripped the controls, then let them go as she tried to decide what to say. "Desperately unhappy, probably," Asuka admitted.

"Huh?" Mari looked startled.

Asuka shrugged somewhat uncomfortably. "The truth is Shinji didn't want to be here and was pretty much forced to by his Dad," she said in explanation, "I won't go so far as to say he hated being a pilot, but he didn't want to be one."

"Makes you wonder how crazy Gendo was," Mari noted, "putting a kid who hatred him in the most powerful war machine around."

Rei surprisingly spoke up, "He had defensive measures available."

Asuna assumed Mari hadn't seen the unedited footage of some of the fights, or how LCL pressure was used to knock Shinji out. She also decided not to tell her, figuring it might be a useful little secret to keep.

Thankfully before Asuka had to say anymore, the next simulated Angel appeared. "All right, everyone. Let's take this thing," she ordered, "and Mari, try to coordinate with Rei and I."

"Yeah, yeah," Mari sighed.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Later that afternoon Mari headed back to her quarters, nursing a split lip. (Well, it wasn't THAT bad. Doc. Kazuko had fixed her up, but still...) Who knew Asuka would get that angry over her hitting on Rei? All the reports she had seen implied they didn't even like each other.

Mari knocked on her apartment door, then on recieving no answer from her roomie Mana unlocked the door and headed in. The suite was damn small compaired to her place back in Berlin, with just two bedrooms, a living room and a kitchen. Still, at least she had her own room, and they didn't have a older guardian living with them.

Still dressed in her NERV uniform Mari headed into her bedroom, casually shrugging off the uniform jacket. In a few moments she was in shorts and a t-shirt, and tying up her runners. Casually she headed out and locked out, then jogged off into Tokyo-3.

The city was a mess, but the rebuilding was obvious everywhere she looked. Construction teams were rebuilding broken roads and buildings, electrics were being rewired and people were gradually coming back.

They were nuts, in Mari's opinion. YES the angel wars were over, so they didn't have to worry about that any more. But if there was another war, or if the government decided to seize the Evangelion technology, this city would be another battlefield. Anyone coming back here was nuts, or they lacked other choices. Possibly both.

A few older guys gave Mari lecherous looks as she jogged by, and she smiled coldly. She almost hoped some idiot would attack her, she had been taking self-defence courses at NERV-Berlin for the last year. She wasn't the best martial artist in the world, but she was very efficient. Any bastard who grabbed her would regret it.

A group of kids in dorky looking Japanese school uniforms went by, and she snorted with amusement. They even had the kids back in school? Poor bastards. Thankfully she was home schooled, and intended to continue that at Tokyo-3. She was already doing college level courses anyway.

"Hey, you!" a boy's voice called.

Mari stopped and turned around curiously. The young man was in a cluster of students, his dark brown hair cut pretty short. Unlike the other kids he wore a track suit, and even more unusually he was leaning on a fairly new looking cane. Intrigued she walked back to where they were standing.

"Yeah?" Mari asked, well aware of how her sweaty shirt clung to her breasts. The taller boy was doing his damndest not to look, while his buddy was staring. The girl with them was frowning, her brown hair tied up in twin ponytails.

"Shouldn't you be in school?" the tall boy asked, leaning on his cane. He frowned, "Though I guess I haven't seen you before."

"Just got here a few days ago," she said, smiling slightly. She offered her hand, "Mari Ilustrious Makinami."

"Hikari Horaki," the girl frowned at her, "and this is Kensuke Aida and Toji Suzuhara. Nice to meet you."

'He's the guy who piloted Unit-03,' Mari realized as her smile widened. 'This could be VERY interesting...' Aloud she said, "Nice to meet you too. I hope we all can be great friends."

To be continued...


	15. Chapter 15

Rebuild of Third Genesis

Misato Katsuragi really wasn't sure about this, as she stood in a doorway in NERV's medical wing. The place had been set up as a extended care facility, with the right kind of bed, monitors and a expanded bathroom for bathing the subject. In the new bed covered by crisp sheets was the comatose form of Shinji Ikari, why looked both peaceful and oddly fragile in the bed.

"I'm still not a hundred percent sure we should be moving him here," Satoko Shinden echoed Misato's thoughts, the official representative of the United Nations looking at the boy uncomfortably. She had never met the boy, just read his files, and it was a bit strange seeing the legendary Angel killer as just a ordinary boy.

"After a former NERV staffer broke into the hospital and tried to sufforcate him, I don't think we had much choice," Misato sighed.

She really should have anticipated it happening, Misato knew. In the aftermath of the attempted Third Impact, news had leaked about NERV and what it had done, but also about it's pilots. To say that there were mixed feelings about the kids who had fought to save the world was a understatement. There were even some whack jobs who had decided we should have let the Angels win.

And, sadly, there were officers at Tokyo-3's NERV and other branches who suffered varying levels of psychological damage. The reduction of their bodies to pure LCL and the strange group mind everyone experienced was something that touched everyone differently. Many people benefited, becoming more stable and centered. But at least a few couldn't cope with the experience.

"Did you know who it was?" Satoko asked curiously.

"No, not really," Misato admitted. "She was a worker in the Evangelion cages. I knew her to look at, but..."

"Hmm," Satoko nodded, understanding what she meant.

Doctor Suema Kazuko made her way up the hall, her long black hair flowing down her back in a pony tail. "Checking in on our new resident?" she asked them, looking rather tired. She had already been rushing around getting the medical check ups done for all the new arrivals, and now this was dropped on her lap.

"Sorry about this," Misato said apologetically.

"Well, I knew the job was going to be interesting when I took it," Suema shrugged eloquently. She nodded towards the room, "I should note that I am not a extended care professional. We're going to need to bring in a specialist nurse, at least."

Satoko nodded, "I don't think that will be a issue."

"Good," Suema nodded. She looked at Misato curiously, "I know it's indelicate to ask, but who has power of attorney for Shinji?"

Misato looked at her curiously, "I do, actually. Gendo made me Shinji's guardian in his will, god knows why."

"Hmm," Suema hesitated. She wasn't sure if there was a tactful way to bring this up, then just decided to go for it. "Are you certain you want to keep him on life support?" she asked calmly. "I've checked his medical records, there is no upper brain activity registering," she said.

Misato nodded slightly as she conceded, "I know, but... I did some reading. There are cases when people can come back from this sort of thing."

Suema silently wished people would not watch too many medical dramas, while some cases do recover, the usual patients did not awaken. Still, she couldn't blame Misato for wanting to hold onto hope, even if it was unreasonable. "Well, we can keep him comfortable," she said, "but..."

"I understand," Misato sighed.

Satoko was a bit surprised to see such a tender side to Misato, though she supposed she shouldn't have been that surprised. She had taken care of Shinji and Asuka for months, after all. Still, she seemed all business on the job, remarkably so. It was... kind of impressive really.

Changing the subject a bit Satoko asked, "Do you think we'll need to put a guard on him too? I hadn't considered how people might feel about him."

"I don't think so," Misato mused as she looked at Suema, "we finished psychological profiles on NERV staff, right? So I don't think anyone here would...?"

Suema made a face, "Well, yes and no. We put the current staff through a screening process, but it doesn't mean someone isn't unstable." She grimaced, "God, the usual personality type we get at NERV is at least a little obsessive, solitary..."

"Oh, that's comforting," Satoko muttered, "I'm surrounded by potential nut-jobs."

"I resemble that remark," Misato chided. She shrugged slightly, "I think we should be fine. I ordered the Magi to constantly scan the area, so we'll know if someone unauthorized breaks in."

"Other than my staff," Suema added. "I don't want a alarm going on if I go in."

"I don't see there being any problems," Misato reassured her.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Meanwhile, Ritsuko was attempting to determine what was possibly wrong with the base's three Magi computers. The intense blond in a lab coat and NERV jumpsuit was intimidating both Mana and Aoi, despite their technically being her superior. The black haired Aoi was covertly monitoring progress on a seperate tablet computer, and was astonished at how fast Ritsuko was typing in code.

Mana watched the numbers and letters fly by, barely keeping track of what the other woman was doing. She had thought she was a good programmer, but this was a whole different level. Even stranger it wasn't the sort of code she had used back in NERV Berlin, instead it seemed some kind of hyper efficient shorthand customised to this system.

"Looks like you were right," Ritsuko admitted, frowning as she studied the monitor. "There is a large amount of data transfer going on between the three Magi. It's that which is causing the lag you noticed."

Aoi felt decidedly stupid, not realizing the lag was actually just a symptom of the other problem. Still, at least they had spotted it. Loyally she said, "It was Mana who spotted it, actually."

"Well done," Ritsuko gave the young woman a absent minded nod as she opened up files and dug into the system.

Mana blushed in pleasure, watching Ritsuko work intently. The older woman was one of her idols, and if she was single she could easily imagine asking her out. Sadly, she was taken, or at least that was what the grapevine said. "So," Mana mustered her courage to ask, "do you know why the Magi are communicating so much?"

"Not a clue," Ritsuko admitted, nearly making Aoi drop her tablet.

"What?" Aoi asked, surprised.

Ritsuko paused her work and stretched tiredly. "I hate to burst your bubble, but my mother was the expert on the Magi," she admitted, "I'm mostly just doing my best to decipher her notes and figure out what she did."

"Oh," Mana said, blinking.

"Is the Tokyo Magi really so different?" Aoi had to ask.

"Very much so," Ritsuko said, "my mother was in full on 'Mad Scientist Mode' when she built them. The Magi in other cities are the tame version."

"That's not very comforting," Mana said as she watched Ritsuko type.

"It's not meant to be," Ritsuko shrugged. She sat back, frowning, "It's like the three Magi are functioning like a single brain... but that makes no sense."

"Id, Ego and Superego?" Aoi ventured.

"More like Scientist, Mother and Woman. My mother had issues," Ritsuko noted. She looked thoughtful, "If the three personality components could integrate somehow..."

"Is that even possible?" Mana asked nervously, imagining scenarios from various science fiction films where robots ran wild.

"Well, I guess we'll have to find out," Ritsuko said. She sighed, "I'm gonna have to pull Maya in to help me with the programming."

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Rei Ayanami was watching curiously as people walked down the road outside of the apartment building they lived in. The blue-ish haired girl liked people watching, in between practicing piloting the Evangelion and spending time with Asuka. She didn't really understand people, yet, which was one reason she found them fascinating.

Take the group of teens she was watching. There were three of them, two girls and a boy, and they were showing what a nature program might call 'pack dynamics.' The two girls were each trying to get the boy's attention, either by conversation by the more studious one, or sexual attraction from the taller, bustier one.

The mousy girl seemed to be very possessive of the boy, and glared antagonistically at the other girl. The sexy woman seemed rather un-bothered by the glare, and instead seemed to enjoy ramping up her charms to befuddle the boy. Which, of course, irritated the other girl and resulted in her acting waspish to the other two.

Rei wondered why the one girl didn't suggest just sharing the boy? It would resolve the difficulty, and would be more efficient too. Or was this one of those social things Asuka was trying to explain to her?

As the three moved out of sight Rei saw Mari Illustrious Makinami getting off the commuter bus running to NERV and frowned slightly. Rei didn't think she liked Mari, though it was difficult for her to state why. Yes, Mari had placed a unwelcome hand on her body in the showers, but Asuka had dealt with that quite efficiently.

(Rei had been so startled by Mari grabbing her breast that she had just froze. And frankly, she didn't have much experience with such things anyway. Thankfully she didn't have to DO anything, as Asuka practically teleported across the shower and slugged Mari one sending her staggering against the wall. As Asuka practically ordered Mari to leave Rei alone, she had been surprised at how nice it had felt, being protected.)

What bothered Rei about Mari, she thought, was the unconscious arrogance of the girl. Maybe it was because she was a pilot, maybe it was a cultural thing, but Mari seemed to expect things to just come to her if she wanted them. Yes, she was a terrific pilot and practiced quite hard, but because of being a pilot she seemed to think other things should come to her too.

Rei pushed away from the balcony, deciding now wasn't the time to worry about it. She was home while Asuka and Misato was out, so she decided to try some cleaning. With the sort of messes Misato left it couldn't hurt, and she wanted to contribute.

About half an hour later Rei heard Asuka and Misato talking out in the hallway. "So let me get this straight, you have a DATE?" Asuka demanded.

"It's not a date, it's business," Misato shot back, "Satoko and I are just going out for a few drinks to talk about the UN funding we can expect."

"Sure it is," Asuka snickered, "I think Satoko is becoming a friend at least."

"Well, I am friendly," Misato said.

Rei smiled as the two walked into the living room, "Welcome home."

"Huh?" Misato blinked.

Asuka opened her mouth, then paused. Finally she asked, "Where did you get the apron, and why aren't you wearing anything under it?"

To be continued...

Notes: Wanted to get into Rei's head a bit. Because she really isn't all that well socialized, her conclusions are a bit unusual.

Shinji being attacked occurred to me when I realized I had revealed the secrets of NERV in earlier chapters. If people knew who Shinji was, why wouldn't at least some crazies decide to go after him for various reasons?


	16. Chapter 16

Rebuild of Third Genesis

Chapter Sixteen

Misato watched her three pilots on the monitors, destroying simulated Angels. Mari was the most aggressive, while Rei seemed to be the most cautious. Asuka, oddly, was in the middle and had defaulted to commanding the unit. Not that Mari didn't give her grief over that, but she MOSTLY followed along. It was a interesting dynamic, actually, and she wished she could keep watching, but there was more to do.

Once the girls left the simulators Misato met them on the catwalk. "I hate to end your fun, but the new versions of the plug suits are ready. Would you mind trying them on?" the woman in a mid-thigh length skirt and blouse asked

Rei smiled, "Sure."

"It's about time," Mari said with a cocky grin. The young woman had been 'borrowing' a older plugsuit of Shinji, and it bothered her a bit. Stepping into dead man's boots came to mind, or something like that.

Asuka hesitated, thinking of the scars that she still carried. "All right," she made herself smile as Rei looked up at her warmly.

"Thanks," Misato directed it mostly to Asuka. She knew how difficult some of this must be for her, even after her return to the simulators. "Let's get going," she leads them out of the simulator area, down the hallway to an elevator.

The room they arrived in was a modified changing room, and when Asuka looked over at the three plug suits she frowned slightly at their odd, off-gray color. "They aren't individually colored?" she asked Misato.

"It's a specially made 'smart' fabric," Misato explained, "not only will it mold itself to your body, but it will also change colors based on whatever you input."

"Not bad," Asuka fingered the soft material, "but I'll stick with my red design."

"Could mine be blue?" Rei asked softly.

Asuka raised an eyebrow slightly, while Misato kept her expression perfectly blank. "I don't see why not," Misato managed to smile.

"Hey, you can mix colors too," Mari noted, touching controls and tinting the hanging plugsuit green, mostly, but with white leggings and tan strips across her breasts.

Misato walked over to the door and turned back for a moment to say, "I'll let you get changed." With that, she was off.

As soon as the door shut, Rei calmly slipped the blue dress over her head, folding it up carefully dressed only in her bra and panties. She reached back, her motion pushing her breasts forward and unsnapped the bra, releasing them.

With a loud gulp Asuka turned, stripping her own uniform off quickly. 'I was practically ogling her,' she blushed, setting her pants, shirt and jacket down in a pile. A soft touch on her back startled her, and she turned to meet Rei's gaze.

"Huh," Mari smirked, then stripped off her uniform, slipping the loose plugsuit on then hitting the control pn her wrist to make it vacuum seal to her body.

Asuka growled, swiftly pulling on her plugsuit and hesitating as her fingers brushed the color controls. Maybe it was time for a change? After some thought she added black leggings to her orange/red plugsuit, then white sleeves on her arms. Different, but still familiar enough.

Rei, thankfully, did not copy Shinji's design, going for a light blue with white highlights. "What do you think?" she asked innocently.

"Hot," Mari said with a smirk. 

Asuka ignored that as she reassured Rei, "You look fine."

"Thank you," Rei smiled back warmly, looking pleased.

Mari stretched, glad the suits moved like skin, more or less. "Hey Asuka," she asked, "do these suits fel a bit different than the old ones?"

"Yeah, a bit," Asuka agreed after a moment's shifting around in her own suit. "Wanna ask Misato about it?" she wondered.

Misato nodded once they met her out in the hall. "The suits have been upgraded to light armor," she told them, "they can resist knives and fire, and are somewhat bulletproof."

"Somewhat?" Rei asked mildly.

"They'll stop bullets and disperse the impact," Misato explained, "so they might still hurt you, but will hopefully not actually kill you."

Asuka hesitated then decided just to ask, "Inspired by the attack on NERV during Third Impact?"

"Pretty much," Misato admitted frankly, looking kind of uncomfortable. "Shinji was nearly killed several times when we were running through the halls being chased by soldiers," she explained, "If the suits had been armored at the time..."

"Nice, maybe I'll go antagonize some UN troops," Mari drawled.

"It won't protect you from headshots," Rei noted dryly.

'Now, was that Rei making a joke, or...?' Asuka wondered. "Well, it's nice to have plugsuits, but are the Evangelions any closer to being operational?"

"I keep asking Ritsuko that, but she's been distracted with some Magi issues," Misato shrugged. "Looks like you'll have to keep practicing for now."

"Yeah, yeah," Mari sighed. "Come on," she told the others, "I want to see who can kill the Angels the fastest."

Misato sighed as she watched Asuka lecturing Mari. 'Wonder if Asuka realizes how much Mari is like she was when she first arrived?' she mused. Her watch beeped and she jerked, realizing she was going to be late for the meeting with the UN rep.

Satoko Shinden was walking towards Misato's office just as Misato was arriving, the gren haired woman's face lighting p a bit as she saw her. "I was worried I missed you," she noted with a smile.

"I was showing off the new plugsuits to the kids, lost track of time," Misato admitted as she unlocked the door to Gendo's old office and led her inside.

The two were developing a professional and personal relationship, one built on their meeting during the madness following Third Impact. They worked together in the frantic weeks after the bombing of Tokyo-3, and developed a strong respect for each other. However Satoko was now the representative of their bosses in the UN, making things rather more complicated.

"How did they like them?" Satoko asked curiously as she followed Misato in.

"Over all pretty happy, I think," Misato smiled as she sat down on a battered couch she had dragged into Gendo's old office. The damn place looked like a crypt too much anyway, so along with some carpet she had brought the couch in too, along with a coffee table.

Satoko sat a bit gingerly, then sighed in relief when the couch didn't collapse. Obviously she hadn't seen much of Misato's usual living conditions. She sat forward slightly as she said, "I got the latest numbers from the UN. They;re willing to finance the reconstruction of two Evangelion, at this point. And they're begging you to do it cheaper than Gendo did it."

"Begging?" Misato snorted.

"Well, not quite that bad," Satoko conceded, "but money is tight with rebuilding after the impact events, as well as our budget for closing up other NERV branches."

"We could just follow the US lead and let the countries take the facilities," Misato said sourly. She shook her head, "I'm pretty sure we'll come in cheaper than Gendo. Possibly a lot cheaper, if the information we dug up was right."

"Oh?" Satoko looked eager.

"Gendo was padding the accounts pretty hard, according to the files we extracted," Misato revealed, "which I guess explains how he kept his black projects financed."

"Makes sense," Satoko nodded.

Misato frowned, "What's this I hear about those SEELE nuts?"

"It it helps it's on the US side," Satoko answered willingly, "it seems the US reprsentative to SEELE did not want to go down easy. He had a 'scorched earth' failsafe that went off after he was killed."

"Fuck," Misato swore softly. "What was it?"

"Black market nuke," Satoko said tiredly, "we think from eastern Europe, but we're not exactly sure. Anyway, he had been holed up in New Vegas since the SEELE news was leaked, using a well paid private army to keep himself alive. It looks like either his troops turned on him, or he got tired hoping the government would rescue him."

"If we'd had the Evangelions functioning...," Misato started darkly.

"What, would you catapult them to the United States?" Satoko snorted. She shook her head as Misato looked at her and firmly said, "No, there was nothing you could have done, Evangelion or no Evangelion."

"I guess so," Misato conceded reluctantly. She actually pouted a bit, "I would just love to get hold of at least one of the SEELE cabal and question them."

"You think there's still secrets they're keeping?" Satoko asked.

Misato made a frustrated gesture. "Yes and no. I mean... there is still SO much we don't know about Second Impact, NERV, Evangelion. All of it, really," she said. "And all I have for answers are the still mostly encrypted files of Gendo Ikari."

"No luck cracking them?" Satoko leaned a bit closer to Misato.

"Just bits and pieces," Misato sighed. "The Magi are chugging away at them... assuming Ritsuko fixed them yet, anyway."

Satoko gently patted Misato's arm, smiling at her. "If it helps any I think you're doing a hell of a job," she said.

"Thanks," Misato smiled back. "You too, really. I think juggling the city rebuilding and keeping n eye on things here must be exhausting."

"Eh, it's just paperwork," Satoko waved it off, even as she blushed a bit.

Misato found herself fondly noting, 'Damn, she is cute when she blushes.' She stopped and blinked, 'Where did THAT come from?'

"You okay?" Satoko asked. "You're awfully pale all of a sudden."

"Just a odd thought," Misato smiled wryly.

To be continued...

Notes: Yeah, I'm putting the pilots in Rebuild of Evangelion plugsuits. I liked the designs. Besides, I'm amused to imagine someone later trying to get Mari into the hot pink plugsuit and having her tell them to go to hell.


	17. Chapter 17

Rebuild of Third Genesis

Chapter Seventeen

Dr. Gerry Cornelius was a man who possessed great power, but used it with care and subtlety. In the United Nations he was simply the British Ambassador, but he had also been the head of the UN's anti-SEELE forces.

(Which, he was perfectly willing to admit privately, he had failed at. Not only had he not fully grasped the scale of which SEELE had been acting, he had also failed at infiltrating NERV. His sole successful agent, Ryoji Kaji, was murdered by Gendo Ikari.)

No, in the aftermath of a aborted Third Impact, humanity was finally moving forward. The first children born since Second Impact had appeared, and the seas were gradually returning to normal. It was as if the battle with NERV and SEELE had ended something, closing one chapter and allowing another to begin.

'Of course, there are those who are refusing to move forward,' Gerry sighed mentally as he reviewed the reports. The survivor of SEELE in New Vegas had died, but took the entire city with him using a nuclear device. The United States itself had seized several NERV bases and appeared ready to experiment with S2 engines. And several SEELE holdouts were in Europe, spending money like water to keep themselves safe from mobs that wanted them dead.

There was good news from Japan, though. NERV appeared to be making progress in rebuilding the Evangelions, as well as rebuilding Tokyo-3. The city had been reconstructed to nearly ninety percent of it's former capacity. The Evangelions were a greater problem, with the biological technology behind them now crippled, but there was confidence at NERV that they would be running again.

With that, Gerry moved over to his desk and put a call through, waiting only a moment before it was picked up. Satoko Shinden's face on the monitor screen looked tired. "Sir, you forgot the time difference again," the green haired woman noted.

Gerry hid a smile. He actually hadn't forgot... a sleepy agent was more likely to reveal something than a wide awake one. "My apologies," he said smoothly, "I lost track of time."

Satoko gave him a look that implied the woman didn't quite buy that. "Of course," she deadpanned. Briskly she asked, "Did you get my report, sir?"

"I did," Gerry agreed, "I see you and Misato are getting along well. I am a bit concerned this may impact your working relationship."

Satoko met his eyes calmly, "You should have heard our last funding argument, sir."

Gerry snickered softly at that. "The request to build Evangelion cheaper?" he asked.

"That and my telling her we had no more money for the medical division," Satoko admitted. "Though honestly I think NERV is going to be running at a far lower budget than we initially expected," she added.

"You confirmed Gendo was padding his accounts?" Gerry asked.

"Quite a lot," Satoko agreed, "to fund his black projects. He would double or even tripple the costs of items to make funds available for other projects. I'd also suggest running through the books of the closed NERV branches he may have been generating funds there too."

"I'll put my people on it," Gerry agreed. Intently he asked, "How close are NERV to successfully reactivating a Evangelion?"

"Weeks, possibly months if something goes wrong," Satoko admitted. "I went to the engineering section and watched them growing the replacement parts... it's rather eerie to see, but from what I can see they nearly have a third of it done. According to Maya, the time consuming process will be encasing it in armor."

"Hmm," Gerry nodded. He wanted to ask her to expedite the process, but while she controlled the money for NERV, se didn't have that kind of direct authority.

Satoko picked up on something as she asked, "Is there a problem?"

Gerry made a face as he said, "Nothing yet, but I don't like what I'm hearing in Europe. There are surviving SEELE cells, and they may have exotic technology."

"Does Misato know about this yet?" Satoko asked curiously. When he shook his head no she continued, "I understand operation security, but keeping her in the dark means she can't actually assist the situation. And, frankly, we both know she isn't tangled up in the situation with SEELE."

"Agreed," Gerry conceded, "I'll make sure she gets the information."

They discussed several more matters then he let her go, noting she was probably going to go back to bed. As Gerry sat there he considered if Satoko was getting too close to the NERV staff... he might need to take out some insurance. Just in case.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Suema Kazuko smiled with some amusement as she washed the cut on Misato's head then carefully piked the grit out. "How did you manage that?" she asked curiously.

"Was bicycling," Misato admitted, "and took a header."

"No helmet?" Suema said disapprovingly.

Misato held up a hand, "I already got the lecture from Asuka, thanks. She's becoming the grown up of our little family."

Suema snickered at that. "Seriously, be careful," she said as she applied disinfectant, "I know you've been through a lot, but..."

Misato hissed in pain. "Isn't there a pain free version?" she complained.

"I save that for people who aren't idiots," Suema joked.

"That's it, you deffinately aren't getting the money for more tongue depressors," Misato grumbled good naturedly.

"Next time, I'm chilling any medical instruments I need to use on you," Suema mock threatened.

"You don't already?" Misato asked.

"Oooh, you're gonna get it for that," Suema laughed as she applied a adhesive bandage to the now cleaned wound.

The phone rang and Misato sighed as she pulled it out of her pocket "Excuse me," she sighed as she answered it, "Yes? Yes. I understand. Yes. I still think we should have a exception... yes. Right."

Suema watched with some amusement as Misato looked more and more harried as the phone conversation continued. Finally it finished as Suema asked, "Everything all right?"

Misato looked pained, "The Japanese government has decided that with the rebuilding of the city, it's time for the kids to go back to school."

"Asuka and Rei?" Suema guessed. "You were arguing they should get a special exemption, I suppose?"

"Yeah, but no luck," Misato made a face. "Just guarding the kids is going to be a pain, much less everything else."

Suema watched Misato get up as she noted, "Well, it might help with developing Rei's socialization, at least."

"There's that," Misato conceded, "I'd better get going. Thanks for the help."

"Just be more careful, please," Suema requested as Misato headed out.

Misato hurried out of the medical wing, only stopping in for a moment to check in on Shinji. He slept on, his face peaceful, and she wondered if the poor boy would ever awaken again. If not, she would do what had to be done. Being a complete coward Misato decided the simplest thing to do was phone Asuka and give her the news. The young lady's reaction was predictably.

Asuka cursed softly in German, then continued, "They can't be serious."

"Sorry," Misato said, "I think the Japanese government wants to show they have some control over NERV, so they're throwing this petty stuff at us."

"Well, I guess we'll just have to manage," Asuka admitted with a frown. "Who are they making attend school?"

"You, Rei, Mari and Mana," Misato said. Wryly she added, "I expect much yelling from Mari about it when I tell her."

"Good luck with that," Asuka agreed wryly. "Better meet with Satsuki too. Isn't she the one who's running our security teams?"

"Crap, you're right," Misato agreed, "I'll see her next."

"Try not to get home too late," Asuka added as she hung up.

'Definitely becoming our group mom,' Misato mused as she headed to the bridge. Satsuki, Kaede and Aoi were there, as expected, but Ritsuko was there as well, hunched over a terminal and frowning fiercely.

"Still having trouble with the Magi," Kaede explained as she nearly jumped to attention.

"Relax," Misato said, "as I keep telling you, I don't want military style formality."

"Sorry," Aoi looked amused.

"I need to borrow Satsuki for something," Misato smiled at the woman as she asked, "you free?"

"No, I'm very expensive," Satsuki winked. "Your office?" she asked.

"Yeah, please," Misato agreed as she led the slightly younger woman into her office just above the bridge. "Take a seat, I'm about to make your life immesurably harder," she waved Satsuki to a seat.

"Hit me," Satsuki said, bracing herself.

"I've pretty much been ordered to put the pilots back in school," Misato admitted, "security for that will drop in your lap."

Satsuki paused then relaxed a bit. "Not as bad as I expected," she admitted, then seemed to consider it a moment. "Scratch that," she mused, "it's going to be a mess."

"Oh?" Misato prompted. She had her own theory about why this was going to be a mess, but she wanted to hear Satsuki's opinion.

"Previously it was known around Tokyo-3 that the kids were pilots, but that was pretty much it," Satsuki said, "but with the leak of SEELE data, the whole world now knows. We can't even guess who might take a interest or what they'll do."

"Pretty much my thoughts," Misato agreed, "plus there's the fame seekers who might take a shot at the kids just to get their names in the papers."

"Ugh, yes," Satsuki made a face. "I'd like to assign agents to shadow the kids, as well as put some into the school itself," she said, "and what kind of budget do I get?"

"Same as previously," Misato admitted, "though if you need to, I'll try to squeeze some more out of the other departments."

"I'll develop a deployment plan with the agents," Satsuki promised, "and I think we can manage. If not, I'll yell."

"Fair enough," Misato agreed.

To be continued...


	18. Chapter 18

Rebuild of Third Genesis

GOD, trying to phone someone you hadn't talk to in a while was hard. Asuka stared at the phone for a moment, then made herself pick up and dial. It rang a time or two, then there was a pick up as a startled voice said, "Asuka?"

"Hey, Hikari," Asuka smiled a bit nervously. "I'm sorry I haven't call, but things have been crazy..."

"Tell me about it," Hikari said, and it sounded like she was smiling. "I heard you're coming back to classes?"

Asuka felt a degree of relief that her friend didn't seem angry. Tho Asuka had heard she had been out of town a bit during the reconstruction, too. "Yeah, and there's some new transfers coming in too," Asuka said. "Uhm... you're still class president?"

"For my sins, yes," Hikari joked.

"Well, you're going to have fun with Mari, anyway," Asuka said, then sketched in the other girl's behavior.

"Reminds me of you," Hikari said teasingly.

"WHY does everyone say that?" Asuka rolled her eyes, "We're nothing alike."

Hikari chuckled, "Sure you are."

"I don't think the other new girl, Mana, will be much trouble," Asuka mused. She hesitated, "Uhm, there's something about Rei you should know."

"Yes?" Hikari prompted.

"She's lost her memory," Asuka admitted. It was better than saying she was a newly uncanned clone with no social skills.

"Right," Hikari souned rather blase about it. Then again, if you liked in Tokyo-3 for long enough, you tended to roll with the punches. "How is she coping?" she asked.

"Well, we're drumming her social skills back in, but she still has issues," Asuka admitted, "there's probably going to be incidents."

"We'll cope," Hikari promised.

"How's Toji?" Asuka had to ask.

"Not bad," Hikari answered honestly, "he's gotten a newer, fancy prostetic leg. It's supposed to be a military model, so I think someone at NERV pulled some strings."

"Probably Misato or Ritsuko," Asuka conceded, "I think they both feel guilty over how things turned out with him."

"Anyway, it's a lot easier for him to get around on," Hikari said. Curiously she asked, "When are you coming back?"

"Monday, I think," Asuka sighed, "which gives me a few days to get Rei some new school clothes as well as making sure everyone else is kitted out."

"Good luck," Hikari laughed then they said their farewells.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

"So you finally broke down and phoned Hikari?" Misato asked later that Friday. She had put NERV in the skillful hands of Satsuki and took the afternoon off, accompanying the group on the school supplies run.

"Broke down?" Asuka asked as their companions browsed.

"You know what I mean," Misato waved it off. "She's okay?"

"Yeah, I think so," Asuka admitted. "I'll be more sure once I see her face to face."

"These school uniforms aren't bad," Mari Illustrious Makinami noted, twirling in the blue skirt, with a white top and vest. "Bet I can sex it up a bit if I tie the vest right..."

"Don't you dare," Asuka ordered but Mari only stuck her tongue out at her.

Rei Ayanami looked confused, but the blue haired girl was properly fitted with her uniform. There had been some difficulty at first when they confirmed that she no longer fit the old Rei's sizes... especially in the bust line.

Asuka felt herself blushing again, faintly as she thought of them hopping for new bras for Rei too. Making things worse had been Misato's jokes, along with Mari's need to try on anything racy she thought she could get away with.

Mana looked more amused than anything else as the young tech noted, "I think they're nice." She pouted, "But do I HAVE to go back to school? I'm a technical school graduate back in Germany!"

Asuka pointed at herself, "Me too. I think it's a legal age thing, in Japan."

With a sigh Mana shrugged, "Well, at least I'll be going to school with people I know."

"MISATO!" Mari yelped, then burst out laughing.

Misato emerged from the changing room in a school uniform, probably the largest size the shop had. Sadly it wasn't QUITE large enough, and the older woman was showing odd a lot of leg... and the buttons of the shirt were straining a lot.

"Ack!" Mana covered her face with her hands, blushing.

"Too much?" Misato teased, doing a twirl and revealing a LOT of panty.

"You should save that for any nighttime roleplay," Asuka suggested dryly.

Rei looked curious, "Nighttime roleplay?"

"I'll explain it when you're older," Asuka decided to be safe. She looked at Misato, "Could you PLEASE change out of that? You're going to have a accident."

"Awww," Misato pouted but did go get changed.

"All right," Asuka tried to be business like as they got their current stuff sorted out, "we've each got our two class uniforms, and some casual clothes. We also finished off the school supplies list. Anything else?"

"Swimsuits!" Misato said enthusiastically as she rejoined them, back in her usual outfit.

"Do they have to be school ones?" Mari complained not long after as she looked disdainfully at the heavily covering swimsuit.

"Yup," Asuka shrugged, "but you can always buy another one for out of school stuff."

"Why not wear the same suit for both?" Rei asked innocently.

"Because you'll only attract guys with a thing for schoolgirls," Mana noted wisely.

"Ah," Rei nodded but didn't look like she got it.

"We'll need to check your sizes," Mari smirked, advancing on Rei.

"Not you," Asuka ordered flatly. "We'll get a sales lady to help."

Mari looked disappointed, "Don't you trust me?"

"Frankly, no," Asuka answered crisply. They waved down a staffer and got Rei measured, quickly determining she had gone up a cup size, more or less. Asuka wasn't THAT surprised, considering how much healthier this Rei was to the original, but it was still odd.

Mana picked out a modest two piece, after getting her official one. "This looks nice," she decided.

"Oh come on," Mari complained, "it's boring!"

"So what are you buying, exactly?" Mana challenged, frowning at the other teen.

Mari held up a extremely skimpy top and a thong bottom, pretty much, while smirking. "Trust me, the boys will notice me in this," she said smugly.

Misato pouted, "Aww, I wanted to get that one."

Asuka sighed. She REALLY wondered about how Misato was acting today. I mean, yes she could be immature, but she usually wasn't THIS bad. Though she did seem to be charming the nw girls. Maybe it was deliberate.

Misato noticed her thoughtful look and winked.

Asuka groaned. Yup, deliberate.

**0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0**

Satsuki Ooi nodded as the commander entered the room, walking to the meeting table were several women and a few men were waiting. "Thank you all for coming," she began, smiling tiredly.

"I take it this is about out new assignments?" the redhead asked.

"Correct," Satsuki agreed. "All of you are Section Two agents, and you are very well trained. However, I have a assignment which will test your skills to the limit."

"Go on," the young man asked warily.

"You are formally being assigned to the Pilots protection detail," Satsuki said seriously.

There was a beat of silence, then cries of alarm and dismay. Mostly faked, thankfully, though a few agents did NOT look happy with the idea. "I thought there was already a team covering them?" one older man asked, frowning.

"You're going to have a related job," Satsuki admitted, "You all have degrees or experience in education, so I'm sorry... you're going undercover in the school as teachers."

This time, there were REAL cries of alarm and dismay.

"Oh god, I'd rather be Asuka's meat shield," the first young man groaned. "I joined NERV to get AWAY from educating."

"Sorry," Satsuki smiled wryly.

To be continued...


End file.
